Wolves best Skutt in top-two battle; Prince sets Class B scoring record

ELKHORN — A huge second-half surge propelled the Elkhorn North girls basketball team past Skutt Catholic 71-53 Saturday. 

‍

“This gave us a really good idea of where we are at,” Elkhorn North senior Reese Booth noted. “We knew we had to come in strong and play our best game. I thought we did a great job.”

‍

Saturday’s matchup featured the two best basketball teams in the state, regardless of class, and a rematch of the past two Class B State title games.

‍

“They are a really, really good team,” Booth added. “They are one of the best teams we face, if not the best team. They have great shooters all around and they can attack the basket.”

‍

‍

The game started as expected between the top-two programs. After a 4-point spurt by Britt Prince to open the game, the SkyHawks scored 13 of the next 17 points to go ahead 13-8. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Prince and McKenna Murphy capped a 10-1 run to end the first quarter and put the Wolves ahead 18-14.

‍

Skutt began the second quarter with a 9-0 run, fueled by 7 straight-points by Molly Ladwig, to go back ahead 23-18. Triples by Prince and Murphy to conclude the half, cut the deficit to 30-28 at the break.

‍

“It was great and gave us a confidence boost,” Booth stated. “We came out strong and used our momentum from the end of each quarter to carry us into the next quarter.”

‍

Elkhorn North, and Prince especially, came out of the locker room and took firm control of the game. The senior guard and future Cornhusker scored the second half’s first 9 points to regain the lead for the blue and white. Prince’s 18 points in the third quarter fueled a 24-11 run for Elkhorn North.

‍

‍

“We were a little nervous in the first half because it was a big game,” Booth commented. “In the second half, we bought into our motto, ‘4 Each Other.’ We helped each other out, played connected and we played well in the second half.”

‍

Prince’s first bucket of the fourth quarter broke the Class B scoring record set by Jordan Hooper of Alliance, as Prince tallied her 2,080 career point and tied a career-high and program record with 42 points.

‍

As well as the offense was playing in the second half, the Wolf defense was stifling against the high-powered Skutt offense. Elkhorn North outscored the SkyHawks 43-23 in the second half, turned eight Skutt turnovers into 7 points and held Skutt to its lowest scoring output of the season.

‍

“Defense has always been the core for our team for the past four years,” Booth remarked. “Our coaches always tell us, ‘Defense and rebounding win games.’ We did that tonight and played our defense.”

‍

‍

Prince led all scorers with 42 points. Murphy tallied 22 points; Booth, Sydney Stodden and Reagan Palmer each scored 2 points and Kara Kudlacz added 1 point.

‍

Elkhorn North (10-0) looks to extend its win streak to 35 and 36 Friday at Elkhorn High at 6 p.m. and host Aurora Saturday at 1 p.m. 

‍

“Tonight gave us a good baseline of what we need to work on,” Booth concluded. “We can see what we did well and what we need to improve on. We know our potential and this is a great testament of what we can achieve. We are not satisfied and we’re going to keep going.”