MIB takes down Ely boys

The Ely Timberwolves’ upset hopes were dashed early in their March 7 clash at Mt. Iron.

Host Mt. Iron-Buhl went on an 11-0 run midway through the first half, opening up a 17-point lead and never looking back on the way to a 73-53 victory in the opening round of the Section 7A tournament.

MiCaden Clines, one of three players to score at least 20 points for the second-seeded Rangers, hit two triples during the decisive run.

MIB, which eked out a 70-67 win over Deer River in Saturday’s quarterfinals, downed the Wolves for a third straight time this year and Ely finished with a record of 11-16.

The Wolves lost by 40 points in a late-February meeting with the Rangers, and they were within six points at 18-12 when the winners erupted.

“We competed better this game than the other two games and we were down 40-25 at half,” said Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald. “We had 15 turnovers on the night and eight at halftime which didn’t let them blow us out. W e handled t heir f ull court pressure much better than the last two games. They are just too athletic for us though and their inside-outside game was just too much for us to handle.”

Sophomore Jack Davies, Ely’s leading scorer this winter, had six three-pointers in the second half, when he scored 22 of his 24 points for the night.

But by the time Davies warmed up, MIB had built a 47-25 edge, scoring the first seven points of the second stanza.

Ely never seriously threatened and MIB moved on.

TJ DuChamp paced the victorious Rangers with 23 points, while both Clines and Chris King wound up with 20.

Davies led all scorers with 24, while Ely junior Caid Chittum finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Junior Trenton Bishop came off the bench to add eight points for the Wolves while sophomores Drew Johnson and Otto Devine both finished with four points.

The loss ended an up-and-down year for the Wolves, which included wins over Carlton and Littlefork-Big Falls.

Senior Robert Towley, who played sparingly, was the team’s only senior and for much of the year Ely started a junior, three sophomores and freshman Wyatt Tedrick.

“For the most part this season I thought this group did a nice job of competing, even in many of the games we eventually lost,” said McDonald. “We were most times undersized and we really had a hard time finding ways to score.

“I do think we can rebound after this season but it is going to take some hard work in the offseason for these guys. T hey w ill d efinitely n eed t o get better with their ball handling and shooting as those were two things that we really struggled with this season. Hopefully a year of maturation helps too as we just need to get bigger and stronger to be able to compete with the upper teams in our section.”