South O’Brien and guest Boyer Valley were in a tussle as tournament action got underway February 12 at Paullina. The Bulldogs held a one-point lead midway through the second quarter. South O’Brien then closed out the quarter on a 13-0 run and never looked back, winning the Class 1A District 2 first round game 74-43.
Defense ignited the surge for the Wolverines. “We had some better ball pressure which led to deflections which led to steals and then we pushed the ball down the floor for layups,” explained South O’Brien head coach Kiley Yates. When asked what he liked about his team’s performance, the coach responded, “When we played with good energy and effort on both ends. That was the end of the second quarter and during the third quarter – 48 points total with lots of steals.”
The Wolverines made a total of 17 steals with the five from David Bottjen leading the way. The Bulldogs committed 21 turnovers and South O’Brien 14.
The easy baskets off turnovers helped the Wolverines shoot 48 percent with 33 buckets in 69 tries. Boyer Valley was 20-of-58 from the floor for 35 percent. South O’Brien went 5-for-18 from three-point range while the Bulldogs missed all 11 of their trey attempts. From the free throw line the Wolverines were 3-of-6 and Boyer Valley 3-of-10.
A total of 10 South O’Brien players scored in the game, led by Derek Paulsen with 23 points. Jaden Kreber tallied 13 points, Willie Conley 10 and Ben Woodall and Bottjen nine apiece. Justice Frerk, Gabe Moermond, Caden Wittrock, Brady Riedemann and Reese Lundquist each scored two points. Conley contributed four assists.
The top rebounders were Conley with nine boards, Kreber with seven and Paulsen with six. Frerk and Paulsen each blocked two shots.
B. Valley
12 9 12 10 – 43
S. O’Brien
11 22 26 15 – 74