The Service Cougars visited the Wolves Den on Tuesday night for a boys and girls varsity double header.
The Wolves appeared healthier than their last game, Seniors Nate Yaw and Kyle Taylor were over their colds, and during warm ups, the Wolves looked up for the game. But the first half was difficult for the boys from ERHS, as Service jumped out to a comfortable lead behind the scoring from the Cougars dynamic duo of Amu Aukusitino and Adam Klie.
At times, it appeared to me, that the Wolves were right in the game, except the ball was just not dropping, and a few costly turnovers just kept them out of it. Dominic Young was doing his part to keep the Wolves in the game, putting up a game high 26 points, while grabbing 8 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Yaw did not explode like he did against Chugiak or Thunder Mountain, but he still had a double double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and added 6 assists.
The 4th quarter was the Wolves quarter. Points coming from Senior Colten Palmer, Kelechi Madubuko along with Taylor, Yaw and Young pulled the Wolves to within striking distance. However, key turnovers, and no timeouts left forced the Wolves into a quick foul defense, and for the most part, with the double bonus in effect, the Service free throws kept the point differential in favor of the Cougars.
Another Wolf really made his first home impact for me last night. Senior Colten Palmer played a great game. Short jumpers, breaking up passes, tough defense, it was the most I had seen of Palmer this season and he needs to come out every game that explosive.
And then there was Senior Kelechi “Air” Madubuko. Kelechi was not as explosive or as high flying as he has shown us over the last few games, but he was still a huge part of the offense and defense for the Wolves. He seemed to play a little smarter, not fouling out, but he was not playing at full speed it appeared. He needs to find the balance between too fast and out of control to full speed and in control. Once he finds the zone, he will be a monster on the court.
One last thought, and I have not brought any of their games up in these posts, but the Girls Varsity team appears to be on the verge of getting it. Yes, they lost. Yes, it was a double digit loss. However, in the first quarter the varsity squad was playing ball. And they were hanging in there with Service. If they could have kept that going all game, Service would have had a fight on their hands. Keep at it Girls.
