O’NEILL — A close game at halftime, the O’Neill Eagles soared in the second half to claim a 58 to 31 victory over Elgin Public-Pope John Saturday evening.
Leading 20 to 16 to start the third quarter, the Eagles dropped in one trey after another in the second half, outscoring the Wolfpack 38 to 15 to claim the victory.
O’Neill hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back treys over a three-minute span late in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 38 to 22 lead.
In all, the Eagles had six treys in the second half compared to just one for the Wolfpack.
For the faithful sitting in the stands, the Wolfpack gave them every reason to believe they could make a game of it against the taller Eagles. In the first half, EPPJ held their own. In the first quarter, every time the Eagles went ahead, the Wolfpack answered. Austin Meis’ field goal with just under two minutes to play tied the score at 8-all. Jacob Emme scored with less than a minute left in the quarter to give the Eagles a 10 to 8 lead.
In the second quarter the Wolfpack took their first lead of the game when senior Jack Borer connected for a deuce at the 6:37 mark. After O’Neill regained the lead, Wolfpack point guard Seth Schumacher knotted the score at 14-all at the 3:03 mark.
O’Neill then outscored the Wolfpack six to two the remainder of the half to take a 20 to 16 lead at intermission.
Jack Borer led the Wolfpack with 11 points in the game, Schumacher had 5. The Wolfpack made just 37 percent of their field goal attempts (14/38).
The Eagles were led in scoring by Tyson Hostert with 14, Emme had 12 and Dylan Belik added 11.
The loss dropped the Wolfpack’s record to 3-7. The victory improved the Eagles’ mark to 6-4.
Eagles 58, Wolfpack 31
Wolfpack……………………………8 8 6 9 — 31
Eagles……………………………..10 10 20 18 — 58
O’Neill — Dylan Belik 11, Justin Appleby 5, Jake Young 3, Austin Hilker 3, Tyson Hostert 14, Alex Thramer 6, Jacob Emme 12, Walker Liewer 4, Corbin Dean 0. Team totals: 23-59 4-7 58
Wolfpack — Jack Borer 5-10 0-1 11, Zach Eischeid 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Heithoff 2-5 0-1 4, Kyle Kallhoff 0-2 0-1 0, Regan Kerkman 2-5 0-0 4, Austin Meis 2-4 0-0 4, Scott Moser 0-1 0-0 0, Evan Schindler 0-0 1-2 1, Seth Schumacher 2-8 1-4 5. Team totals: 14-38 2-8 31. Three-point shots — Jack Borer (1).
Team statistics: Rebounds — Wolfpack 25 (Seth Schumacher 6, Austin Meis 5), O’Neill 32. Assists — Wolfpack 7 (Seth Schumacher 3), O’Neill 13. Steals — Wolfpack 6 (Kyle Heithoff 2, Seth Schumacher 2), O’Neill 9. Turnovers — Wolfpack 17, O’Neill 17.
