Wolverines bounce back for home victory

MABEN – After a loss against Calhoun City last Friday in the Class 2A, Region 4 championship game, coach Jon Ginn just wanted his East Webster Wolverines to turn the page as the playoffs began.

The No. 2 seeded Wolverines were hosting an M.S. Palmer team that has seven wins all season long. Ginn cautioned his team that the record wasn't indicative of the Dragons' abilities and that showed for three quarters.

A tough injury early in the game for one of the team's heartbeats in Sam Brown coupled with a competitive showdown made for a relatively close game. Cael Chrismond helped power the team through in the second half and delivered a first round win 80-65.

“I've seen them play and knew they would be athletic,” Ginn said. “We told our guys that they're the kind of team if you give them some confidence, they'll hang around. I was hoping that we might put them away quicker. Part of that was us, but a lot of that was them. They reminded me of us last year. We had seven wins, but we were capable of beating people.”

East Webster didn't have many issues on the offensive end as it racked up 80 points, but the Dragons were keeping pace on the offensive side. Palmer trailed just 24-19 at the end of the first quarter and 40-33 at the half.

That lead shrunk to two points early in the third, but Chrismond started to take over after a quiet first half. He led the way to push the lead out to 61-50 at the end of the quarter and eventually got the lead to as many 19 points.

Late in the fourth, a free throw by Chrismond notched his 1,000th career point. He had 20 points in the game but getting the win was his biggest goal.

“It was big, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates and working hard every day,” Chrismond said. “We were just happy to get the win. Sam got hurt early and that took the energy down, but coming out of halftime, we were ready to go.”

The Wolverines (22-8) will now move on to round two. The team will be doing it without one of its hardest workers and best rebounders in Brown, but staying alive is the name of the game in postseason.

To move on to round three, East Webster has its hands full. The Wolverines travel to Baldwyn to take on a Bearcat team that is 23-4 this year.

“I haven't watched one bit of film because what does that matter if we don't take of business (Tuesday),” Ginn said. “They're very athletic and have basically their football team out there. It will be a huge challenge.”