South O’Brien shored up a few aspects of its game and it showed. After trailing Akron-Westfield by seven points to start the second quarter, the Wolverines outscored the visitors by 30 the rest of the way to win 58-35 November 28 at Paullina. This was the season-opener for South O’Brien while the Westerners saw their record level at 1-1.
“We defensive rebounded better in the final three quarters, but they still had 20 offensive rebounds for the game,” noted Wolverine head coach Kiley Yates. “They have two big physical posts that are hard to keep off the glass.” The coach listed some other reasons for the turnaround on the scoreboard. “We were somewhat more patient on offense in the last three quarters,” said Yates. “We had makeable shots in the first quarter and just missed, but made them in the second, third, and fourth. We played better defense. They hit their only two threes in the first, missed 22 others for the game. Overall, it was a good first game win at home with a nice crowd on hand.”
Doing the bulk of the work on the boards for South O’Brien were Willie Conley and Derek Paulsen with eight rebounds apiece and David Bottjen with seven. Conley also blocked three shots. Ben Woodall stole the ball twice. Akron-Westfield committed 11 turnovers and the Wolverines six.
Sharing scoring honors were Conley and Woodall who each tallied 13 points. Paulsen added nine points while Jaden Kreber and Bottjen each finished with eight. Rounding out the scoring were Justice Frerk with four points and Caden Wittrock with three. The 13 assists included four from Bottjen and three from both Conley and Woodall.

The Westerners were held to 22 percent shooting overall with 14 baskets in 63 tries. South O’Brien was 23-of-60 from the field for 38 percent. The home team was 7-of-26 from long range and made five of its seven free throws. Akron-Westfield was 5-of-10 from the line.
A-W
16 8 6 5 – 35
S. O’Brien
9 16 17 16 – 58