The Eagle River Wolves varsity basketball team hosted the Diamond Lynx in their season home opener at the Wolves Den Saturday night.  Missing senior starter Nate Yaw because of a knee injury, the new look Wolves looked good, even though Diamond jumped out to a large lead and never looked back.  Junior Kelechi Madubuko and Senior Dominic Young provided some exciting close in action and Senior Kyle Taylor ran point and provided some long range sharp shooting.

While the Wolves did not win, there were some aspects to the game that were really good.  The Diamond press was not all that great, but that was in part because the Wolves brought the ball up in a way that the press from the Lynx really did not have any effect.  While the press break was not perfect, it looks like it could really be a great weapon as the season moves on.

The inside game of the Wolves was the biggest disappointment of the night.  While Kelechi Madubuko and Dominic Young showed some flash near the hoop, Diamond out rebounded the Wolves and dominated the inside game.  I really hope I see the Wolves start crashing the boards more, blocking out, and following their shots.  There were a lot of rebounds and second shot opportunities that were lost because of this and while if they do crash the boards and block out they will never get every ball to go their way, some will and they will see more points go up on the board and more wins.

I see some exciting potential in the Wolves for this season.  They just have to keep their heads in the game, and remember the basic fundamentals.  Work as a team and keep positive and the wins will start.