Hancock barely defeats West Iron boys

By Patrick Browne
IRON RIVER – The West Iron Wykons continue to make progress, continue to improve and are inching ever closer to victory.  Despite remaining winless for the season, the Wykon effort was evident once again as they took on the Bulldogs of Hancock on Jan. 24.  
The Bulldogs entered the game at 3 and 7 while the Wykons took the floor at 0 and 12.  The game was a back-and-forth battle which once again saw the Wykon offense looking vastly improved over the early part of the season.  The team garnered 45 points behind the efforts of their sophomore standout Elijah Oberlin and teammates Drew Alexa, Daniel James and Payton Hill.
While the Wykons fell 53 to 45, they never quit, and for the first time this season were within ten points of their opponent for the entire game.  Sensing a potential victory, the last several minutes of the game were the best the Wykons have played all season.
After spending the first half of the season generating 20 and 30 points a game, Coach Fales has his team scoring consistently in the 45-point range.  The offense continues to shine and the team has been solidly competitive in the early part of almost every recent game.  
“We do not have a large team,” stated Fales “high school basketball is an extremely physically demanding sport and although our boys are in excellent condition, it is a challenge playing teams that have a deep bench.”
As the team looks to the future, Fales expressed his appreciation for the coaches at the lower levels who are working hard to rebuild the Wykon tradition.  In a recent grade school basketball tournament at Forest Park, the Wykons fielded a number of teams and are clearly working to reestablish the tradition.