EPPJ Teams Advance To Championship, N-O In Consolation

The Wolfpack basketball teams both earned victories over Burwell to advance to the championship, while the Warriors fell to Riverside in the holiday tournament on Tuesday.

Tournament games will resume in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Jan. 2. Both EPPJ teams will play Riverside for the championship. The girls play at 2:30 p.m. and the boys are set to tip off at 4:15 p.m. 

The Neligh-Oakdale teams will play Burwell in the consolation round. The girls will begin at 11 a.m., and the boys are set for 12:45 p.m.

Riverside defeated the Lady Warriors, 46-24, in the first round. Hallie Knutson and Kinsley Klabenes led N-O scorers with 8 points each.

Girls score by quarters:
Riverside  13  12  10  11   46
N-O            6    7    6    5   24

The Warrior boys got off to a slow start, trailing by 8 at the end of the first quarter. They put up 35 points in the next two quarters to tie the game heading into the final quarter, 45-45. In the end, Riverside edged N-O, 72-63. 

Coach Frank Gade said it was a "tough and very physical game, which we handled better than I thought that we would."
 
"They put a lot of pressure on our defense with their pace and it took us time to get used to that in the first," Gade said. "Coming down the stretch we just didn't get enough stops. Offensively we executed well. We scored our game high this year tonight, we just didn't get enough stops."

Ben Lingenfelter led the Warriors with 18 points, followed by Tyson Belitz with 17 and Grant White with 14. Click here for complete game stats.

Boys score by quarters:
Riverside  18  16  11  27  72
N-O          10  20  15  18   63

The Lady Wolfpack finished strong against Burwell to get a 37-33 victory. EPPJ was down by 15 at halftime, but came back fighting in the second half to outscore their opponent 11-3 and 16-5 in the final two quarters for the win.

Girls score by quarters:
Burwell  14  11   3    5   33
EPPJ      6    4  11  16  37

The EPPJ boys rolled over Burwell, 61-36, to advance to the championship game. Scott Moser poured in 20 points for the Wolfpack, followed by Zach Eischeid with 10, and Regan Kerkman and Jack Borer each added 8.

Boys score by quarters:
EPPJ      9  26  10  16   61
Burwell  10   7    8   11  36