The Eagle River Wolves Varsity boys basketball team hosted the Thunder Mountain Falcons on Friday night in a non conference game. Thunder Mountain is a new high school from Juneau, and came into the Wolves Den to face the winless Wolves. The Falcons were coming off of a win over Grace, and the Wolves were coming off of a tough loss to East High.

This game was a little more special for the Wolves as it marked the return of Senior Nate Yaw. Yaw has missed most of the season due to knee surgery, and pushed to come back for the Thunder Mountain game as a tune up for Tuesdays Chugiak match up in the Wolves Den.

The first quarter started with the Falcons jumping out to a decent lead. There was concern in the gym in the first quarter, as Yaw went down in the middle of the key going for a rebound and slowly got back up.

As the second quarter started, the Wolves were clawing to keep the Falcons from flying away with a win, and as Thunder Mountain headed into the locker room at half with the lead, the Wolves were not to far behind them, well within striking distance.

Coming off the bench, Senior Kyle Taylor drained five 3 pointers, and ended up with 18 points. Yaw, who appeared to not play to his full potential, also ended the night with 18 points and 8 rebounds. Both Taylor and Yaw were key to keeping the Wolves within striking distance. Senior Dominic Young scored a game high 21 points and 15 rebounds. The three seniors lead the pack of Wolves to a lead in the 4th quarter, and took the thunder out of Thunder Mountain. The Wolves win, 70-61.

Next up for both the Boys and Girls Varsity teams, cross town rival Chugiak. The whole town of Eagle River is anticipating the game to be huge after the Eagle River hockey team knocked off the Mustangs Thursday night with a game winning goal from Dacota Wood with 20 seconds left. The rivalry is alive and strong. Go Wolves!