North Central Second Half Surge Tops Wolfpack 47 to 32

PLAINVIEW — What started as a dream, turned into a nightmare Thursday night as North Central defeated Elgin Public-Pope John 47 to 32 at the D1-6 Subdistrict championship game.
What was to have been a stepping stone to a district final and (with a victory) a berth in the Class D-1 State Basketball Tournament, turned into a loss and a team forced to “wait-and-see” about a possible wild-card ticket to state.
The Wolfpack took the lead on a trey by Elizabeth Selting early in the first quarter and held it for the rest of the half. Scoring inside and outside against North Central’s defense, the lead grew to eight points early in the second quarter on two free throws by junior Lydia Behnk, making the score 17 to 9.
Three points by Selting, who finished as the Wolfpack’s leading scorer, gave Elgin a nine-point lead, 22 to 13, with two minutes to go before halftime.
North Central answered with two free throws from Kylin Munger and a two-pointer by Caitlin Orton to close the margin to 22 to 17 at halftime.
The late spurt by North Central proved to be a harbinger for a second half where things did not go the Wolfpack’s way.
Over the final two quarters of the game the Wolfpack scored just 10 points and North Central scored 30 points.
Two free throws by Jadyn Bussinger pulled the Knights to within 22 to 21 with 6:24 left in the third quarter. Wolfpack senior Baylee Wemhoff answered back with a trey to bump the lead back to four points. For the remainder of the quarter, North Central outscored the Wolfpack 13 to two (a basket by Ally Wemhoff). A trey at the end of the quarter by Bussinger made the score 34 to 27.
Selting made two free throws to start the fourth quarter to cut the lead to five points. Baskets by Rachel Stewart and Orton bumped the lead up to nine points midway through the quarter. For the final six minutes of the game, all the points scored by both teams came on free throws. The Wolfpack made three of four while North Central connected on nine of 13 to close out the game and claim the victory.
Selting led the Wolfpack with 13 points, Lydia Behnk added 10.
Stewart led North Central with 13 points, Bussinger added 11.
The Wolfpack fell to 19-4 with the loss.
Knights 47, Wolfpack 32
Wolfpack………15 7   5    5 — 32
Knights…………9  8  17  13 — 47
Wolfpack — Lydia Behnk 3-7 4-6 10, Calli Krebs 0-3 0-0 0, Paige Meis 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Mescher 0-4 0-0 0, Baylee Wemhoff 2-11 0-0 5, Ally Wemhoff 2-14 0-0 4, Elizabeth Selting 4-9 4-6 13. Team totals: 11-50 8-12 32. Three-point shots — Wolfpack 2-19 (Elizabeth Selting, Baylee Wemhoff)
North Central — Kylin Munger 5, Jaycee Fleming 6, Bailey DeVall 4, Rachel Stewart 13, Jadyn Bussinger 11, Caitlin Orton 6, Lexy Heyden 2. Team totals: 13 19-29 47. Three-point shots — Knights 2 (Kylin Munger, Jadyn Bussinger).
Team statistics: Rebounds — Wolfpack 26 (Lydia Behnk 4, Elizabeth Selting 4), North Central 33. Assists — Wolfpack 5 (Baylee Wemhoff 3), North Central 9. Blocks — Wolfpack 2, North Central 1. Steals — Wolfpack 9 (Elizabeth Selting 3, Lydia Behnk 2), North Central 5. Turnovers — Wolfpack 10, North Central 16.