O’NEILL — Girls just wanna have fun.
Coach Randy Eisenhauer told the Wolfpack basketball team, prior to the start of the C2-10 Subdistrict championship game, to do just that – have fun. The result? A 49 to 37 victory over West Holt and a three-game winning streak heading into the C2-6 District finals Friday night.
Smiles were on the faces of the Wolfpack as they jumped ahead of the Huskies and never trailed in the second half to claim their 19th victory of the season against just seven losses.
Junior Baylee Wemhoff said the day after the game the goal was to shut down the Huskies’ two best players, Carlie Wetzel and Bailey Kraus.
The Wolfpack accomplished their goal and were rewarded with a victory.
A four-minute span late in the first quarter provided the Wolfpack with a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. With the game tied at 7-all, EPPJ outscored the Huskies 10 to five over the final 4:30 of the quarter. Wemhoff got things going, converting a steal into a layup. After free throws from Jordan Mescher and Ally Wemhoff made the score 12 to 7, Baylee Wemhoff nailed a trey and Jenna Parks added a field goal for a 17 to 12 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Wolfpack’s lead grew to nine points by halftime, 26 to 19.
West Holt made a run at the Wolfpack in the third quarter, at one point closing to within 33 to 28. The Wolfpack answered with a trey from Baylee Wemhoff and two points each from Ally Wemhoff and Jordan Mescher to spark a seven to two run to take a 40 to 30 lead towards the end of the quarter.
Over the final nine minutes of the game the Wolfpack defense limited West Holt to just nine points to seal the victory.
Baylee Wemhoff led the Wolfpack with 14 points, followed by Parks with 11 and Selting with 10 points.
Wolfpack 49, Huskies 37
Huskies………..12 7 13 5 — 37
Wolfpack………17 9 14 9 — 49
Wolfpack — Liz Selting 4-9 2-4 10, Jenna Parks 5-12 0-5 11, Lydia Behnk 0-1 0-0 0, Calli Krebs 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Mescher 2-8 4-5 8, Jill Schindler 0-1 0-1 0, Baylee Wemhoff 4-14 3-4 14, Ally Wemhoff 2-8 1-6 6. Team totals: 17-55 10-25 49. West Holt team totals: 14-49 8-13 37.
Team statistics — Three-point shots – Wolfpack 5-17 (Baylee Wemhoff 3), West Holt 1-11. Rebounds – Wolfpack 40 (Jenna Parks 17), West Holt 33. Assists – Wolfpack 9 (Jenna Parks 5), West Holt 5. Steals – Wolfpack 9 (Jenna Parks 3, Baylee Wemhoff 3), West Holt 3. Turnovers – Wolfpack 12, West Holt 20.
