BY MICHAEL DAVID

The Wood River Wolverines squared off against the Kimberly Bulldogs in their season opener Wednesday night in front of a boisterous crowd in the Wolverine Den at Wood River High School. 

The Bulldogs came out of the gates on fire, scoring the game’s first eight points and staking a 21-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. 

The visitors from Kimberly remained hot in the second quarter, hitting 75% of their three-point attempts to build their lead to 41-25 at halftime.

But three-pointers by Bodie Bennett (5 points, 4 rebounds), Jannes Mueller (8 pts, 4 rebounds, 2 assists), Brock Mary (15 points, 2 rebounds), Brandon Scott (10 points, 2 rebounds) and Travis Swanson (12 points, 8 rebounds) kept the Wolverines within shouting distance at the break.

Cade Schott (7 points, 2 rebounds) and Brock Mary hit back-to-back threes to start the second half and get the home team within 10 points, 41-31. But the Bulldogs answered with a 7-0 outburst to push the lead to 17. A 9-2 run by Wood River, fueled by Mary and Mueller took the Wolverines within 10 at the end of three quarters.

Wood River turned up the defensive pressure on Kimberly in the fourth quarter, forcing several turnovers and limiting the Bulldogs to only three field goals. A Brock Mary three-pointer on their first possession pulled the Wolverines within 7 points. But that is as close as they would get, as they traded field goals for free throws the rest of the quarter.

Brandon Scott scored six straight points to keep Wood River’s hopes alive, but the comeback was too little too late for Wood River. The valiant comeback fell short, with the scoreboard reading  67-57 in favor of Kimberly at the end.

The Wolverines will play Filer next at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2 at home.