Wolves season ended by Chargers

The ACGC Chargers came out of the gate and immediately set the tone In Tuesday’s 1A – 8 game against the IKM-Manning Wolves, starting with a 22-1 run and ending with a 83-56 win to end the Wolves’ season. 
“I was proud of the way we finished, other than the first half tonight where they got comfortable and shot the ball well,” said Wolves Head Coach Keith Wagner. “They played better than us. But I thought the second half our guys showed some pride and competed well. I thought we finished the season well. I like my group. It’s a good bunch of kids.”
Junior Charger Joe Crawford opened the game with a 3-pointer, followed by another 3-point shot from Senior Noah Kading. Kading made another shot on a mid-range jumper forcing a timeout from Wagner.
When play resumed, the Wolves got their first basket on a free throw from Junior Ben Ramsey, but the Chargers continued to dominate on the offensive end of the floor with back-to-back shots from Senior Jathan South and a layup from Crawford. The Wolves were able to close out the quarter on a 7-1 run, but still trailed 23-8.
“It was really surreal,” said Charger Head Coach Lance Kading. “We’ve played some teams before that have played an extended 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone and struggled, but we put a new offense in and kind of got guys moving, got shooters in the right spot. Guys knocked down shots. We have pretty good confidence in Joe [Crawford] that if we get him open looks, he’s going to knock them down.”
In the second quarter, South got the crowd on its feet when he opened the quarter with a slam dunk.
“Noah and Joe were able to get the ball and drive to those gaps and create space for me,” South said. “That really opened up that 3-ball and that enabled me to drive. It all started on defense. I got some steals and ran out in transition.”
Following South’s dunk, Wolves Sophomore Wyatt Danner knocked down a 3-pointer, but the Chargers offense continued to run the floor with Crawford making layups, Kading adding 3-pointers, and South adding some layups. Ramsey was able to add a few more shots from mid-range, but the Wolves faced an uphill battle in the second half trailing 51-17 at halftime.
“I told them to show some pride, play hard, and stay together,” Wagner said. “Show them what you got and that’s basically what it was.”
South and Payton Policky made back-to-back layups to open the third quarter, but Ramsey made the next three Wolves baskets, including knocking down a 3-pointer.
“Ben is a really good player,” Wagner added. “Ben loves to play basketball. He works at his game, he works at his craft, and he’s going to continue to work and try to make us better next year, along with the other guys. The other guys have to continue to work and get better too.”
Approaching the midway point of the quarter, Wolves Junior Isaac knocked down a 3-pointer, followed by a mid-range floater from Sophomore Brock Kusel. Ramsey made another 3-pointers, along with Sophomore Luke Janssen closing out the quarter with a shot, but still trailed 67-38.
South opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, along with a few more layups from Policky. Ramsey continued to make shots slowly chipping away at the Chargers lead, but the Chargers hung on for their 22nd win, eliminating the Wolves.
The Wolves finish out their season 12-12 with 10 regular season wins, and two Regionals victories over CAM and Ar-We-Va. Wagner said he appreciated the efforts of seniors Ben Langel and Kasche Huehn. “They were out, they played hard, and they were good teammates,” Wagner said. “They did the best they could.”
Despite losing Langel and Huehn, Wagner is optimistic and excited about the future of Wolves basketball.
“I’m always excited,” he said. “When the season is over, you have to take some time to reflect, but at the same time you look forward. We have a good group of kids coming back and hopefully, they continue to work and get better.”