MADISON — Having lost in the opening round of the Madison Holiday Tournament, Elgin Public-Pope John came back one day later to claim the third place trophy with a 62 to 50 victory over Emerson-Hubbard.
Senior Chad Bode pumped in 18 points, Hunter Reestman and Kyle Schumacher each added 15 points to propel the Wolfpack to their second victory of the season.
They have now won two of their last three games for coach Michael Becker.
“We came out strong,” Becker said about the game. “I thought our boys had a good first quarter and a really good second quarter. We kind of had a let down in the third quarter, then got it back where we wanted it to be in the fourth quarter.”
The Wolfpack gained the upper hand in the second quarter. Tied 13-all entering the quarter, the Wolfpack took the lead by outscoring the Pirates 11 to three to lead 24 to 16 at halftime.
The second half was arguably the best second half of the season for the Wolfpack as they scored 38 points, the Pirates had 34.
Rebounding and hitting shots when the opportunities were there were the difference in the game, Coach Becker said “When we got decent looks (at the basket), we finished well,” Becker said.
Having won two of their last three games, Becker said the Wolfpack are starting to play better basketball. “The boys are starting to feel more comfortable with the things we are doing … We’re constantly trying to work on taking a bigger step forward than backwards (with each game).”
Bode connected on six of eight field goal attempts and made six of 13 free throws to account for 18 points. As a team the Wolfpack made 22 of 46 field goal attempts (48 percent).
From three-point range EPPJ was four of 14. Sophomore Hunter Reestman connected on three of six trey attempts.
Senior Kenny Bush had eight points in the game to go along with a team-high 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The victory boosted the Wolfpack’s record to 2-6.
Wolfpack 62, Pirates 50
Wolfpack……13 11 17 21 — 62
Pirates………13 3 14 20 — 50
Wolfpack — Kenny Bush 2-3 4-9 8, Chad Bode 6-8 6-13 18, Hunter Reestman 5-11 2-4 15, Ashton Evans 2-10 2-4 6, Kyle Schumacher 7-14 0-0 15, Conor Ramold 0-0 0-0 0. Team totals: 22-46 14-30 62. Three-point shots — Wolfpack 4-14 (Hunter Reestman 3, Kyle Schumacher 1).
Team statistics: Rebounds — Wolfpack 38 (Kenny Bush 12, Chad Bode 9, Hunter Reestman 9). Assists — Wolfpack 6 (Kenny Bush 3, Conor Ramold 2). Steals — Wolfpack 4 (Ashton Evans 2). Turnovers — Wolfpack 14.
