FOND DU LAC— The Timberwolves were headed into Thursday night’s playoffs on a down note after suffering a tough 64-57 loss to Fond du Lac in their regular season finale on Friday. The loss dropped Ely to sixth seed in the Section 7A competition, just below Fond du Lac, which heads into the post-season seeded fifth.
Despite the loss, the Wolves will host their first playoff game on Thursday, against 11th seeded Bigfork. That game was set to get underway at 6 p.m.
If there was a silver lining to Friday’s disappointing outcome, it was that the Wolves battled to the end. “We got down early 30-11 as Fond du Lac shot the ball really well, and we struggled to get anything going offensively,” said Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald. By halftime, the Wolves had trimmed the Ojibwe’s lead to 38-30 after outpacing Fond du Lac 19-8 in the final minutes of the half. “It was nice to see us fight back after getting down early,” said McDonald.
Ely took that momentum into the second half and briefly took a one-point lead with about eight minutes to go but faded after that. McDonald gave credit where it was due, noting that the Ojibwe are a “strong and athletic team.”
Senior Joey Bianco, as he has done all season, led the charge for Ely, pouring in 27 points, while adding nine assists and six rebounds. Freshman Jack Davies added 15 points, while senior Erron Anderson pulled in six boards. The Wolves ended their regular season with a record of 19-7.