A late-season clash with Deer River was scrapped because of both weather and scheduling difficulties.
Yet Ely’s high school girls basketball team might get a crack at the powerful Warriors after all.
If the Timberwolves got past Carlton-Wrenshall in Thursday night’s Section 7A playoff opener, completed after deadline, then they would almost certainly face Deer River in a Saturday quarterfinal clash.
That game would take place in Esko at 4 p.m. Saturday in one of four quarterfinal games there on the day.
Heading into the postseason, Deer River is seeded second in 7A with a record of 22-3. The Warriors were ahead of everyone in the section except perennial powerhouse and top-seeded Mt. Iron-Buhl (24-1).
Ely finished as the seventh seed with a 13-10 record, and the Wolves figured to have a difficult matchup in the playoff opener against Carlton-Wrenshall (14-11).
The Raptors were seeded 10th and did not play the Wolves during the regular season.
The survivors of Saturday’s quarterfinals move on to Hermatown on Tuesday, March 3 for the 7A semifinals, and the finals will also take place in Hermantown March 5.
• In the Feb. 20 regular season finale, Ely pressured South Ridge into more than 20 turnovers and tightened the defense in a 60-27 rout.
Not only did junior Lydia Shultz lead the Wolves with 23 points, but she had 10 of her team’s 17 steals as well as six assists.
Junior Ruby Lowe drained four three-pointers and wound up with 13 points for the night while junior Amelia Penke finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
Gretta Lowe scored four points and Lillie O’Neill and Zoe MacKenzie wound up with three points each.
