O’NEILL — Having fell to the Lady Spartans once before, Tuesday night was supposed to be different as the Wolfpack faced Boyd County in the quarter-final round of the NVC Confer-ence Tournament.
But, in a cruel twist of fate, the Lady Spartans made it two in a row over EPPJ with a 39 to 37 victory.
The Wolfpack never lead in the game as they fell behind from the outset against the Lady Spartans. Boyd County built a 20 to 16 lead at halftime.
The Lady Spartans (11-5) maintained a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. The Wolfpack cut the margin to two, but never gained the upper hand, thus sustaining just their third loss of the season.
Junior Lydia Behnk had a big game for the Wolfpack, recording a double-double (14 points/14 rebounds) to go along with four blocked shots.
She finished as the only Wolfpack player to score in double figures on a night when, as a team, EPPJ made just 12 of 49 shots from the field (24.5 percent). Calli Krebs had six points.
Senior Elizabeth Selting was a force on the boards, pulling down 10 rebounds.
The Wolfpack made four treys compared to just one for the Lady Spartans. Boyd County made up the difference by making 13 of 30 shots from two-point range, EPPJ was just eight of 30.
The Wolfpack may not be done with Boyd County. They could face each other again at the D1-6 Sub-District Tournament later this month at Plainview.
Sub-district pairings will be announced Thursday, Feb. 9.
Lady Spartans 39, EPPJ 37
Boyd County……9 11 12 7 —39
Wolfpack………. 7 9 12 9 — 37
Wolfpack — Lydia Behnk 4-10 6-6 14, Calli Krebs 2-3 0-0 6, Paige Meis 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Mescher 2-8 0-0 4, Baylee Wemhoff 1-9 3-4 5, Ally Wemhoff 1-5 0-0 3, Elizabeth Selting 2-13 0-0 5. Team totals: 12-49 9-10 37. Three-point shots — Wolfpack 4-19 (Calli Krebs 2, Ally Wemhoff 1, Elizabeth Selting 1). Boyd County team totals: 14-38 10-17 39. Three-point shots — 1-8.
Team statistics: Rebounds — Wolfpack 37 (Lydia Behnk 14, Elizabeth Selting 10), Lady Spartans 29. Assists — Wolfpack 7 (Baylee Wemhoff 4), Lady Spartans 3. Steals — Wolfpack 7 (Baylee Wemhoff 2), Lady Spartans 1. Blocks — Wolfpack 4 (Lydia Behnk 4), Lady Spartans 1. Turnovers — Wolfpack 11, Lady Spartans 14.
