Prince's historic game leads Wolves to third-straight EMC crown

LINCOLN — Saturday’s Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament championship game was truly a special day for the Elkhorn North girls basketball team.

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The Wolves bested conference rival Norris 47-37 to claim their third consecutive EMC Tourney title.

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“We played really hard,” Elkhorn North senior Britt Prince stated. “We had a lot of people step up. Norris is a good team and we played a tough game.”

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Elkhorn North took control early behind the play of its stellar senior guard. Prince netted the blue and black’s first 12 points to give the Wolves a 12-4 edge midway through the first quarter.

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“It is always good when you can start the game fast and get a good start,” Prince noted. “We struggled with starting off strong earlier this season, we turned that around and had a good start today.”

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On Prince’s 11th and 12th points, the future Nebraska Cornhusker surpassed the 2,000 career point mark.

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“It’s awesome,” Prince added. “I could not have done it without all my teammates, coaches and everyone who has supported me. It’s pretty cool.”

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Despite the early deficit, Norris fought back and gave the Wolf offense fits throughout the first half. Norris forced nine Elkhorn North turnovers in the first half and limited the Wolves to just 24 first-half points.

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Norris drew no closer than five in the second half, as Elkhorn North cleaned up its play on the offensive end and shut down the Titan attack. Elkhorn North had just five turnovers in the final 16 minutes of play and allowed just 18 second-half points by Norris.

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“The first half just was not our half,” Prince admitted. “We had a few lapses on defense and stuff like that. I felt like we got it cleaned up there in the second half and toughed it out.”

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Although the Titans made offensive sets tough for Elkhorn North, the Wolves relied on their stifling defense to lead to points. The three-time defending Class B State champions turned 14 Norris turnovers into 18 points off those turnovers.

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“We take pride in our defense,” Prince commented. “Getting those easy points anyway you can is going to help. We try to get up and pressure to force as many turnovers as we can.”

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Prince, who scored her 1,000 career point against Norris during her sophomore season, led all scorers with a game-high 30 points. Sydney Stodden collected 8 points, McKenna Murphy tallied 5 points, while Reese Booth and Kaitlyn Huff each added 2 points.

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Elkhorn North (8-0) hosts Iowa powerhouse Treynor Thursday at 7:15 p.m. and welcomes Skutt Catholic to the Wolf Den Saturday at 1 p.m. 

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“We have been playing a lot of great teams right now,” Prince concluded. “Our schedule will not really get easy. We have to stay the course, stay healthy and keep playing hard.”