Basketball Recap: Elijah Bergstrom's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Axtell over Loomis

If Axtell was riding high fresh off their 66-37 takedown of Wilcox-Hildreth last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Axtell Wildcats fell 73-66 to the Loomis Wolves on Tuesday. Even though they lost, the Wildcats' still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 50.5 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).

Elijah Bergstrom

Points (Career)

02/11/25 vs Loomis	27
01/16/25 @ Elm Creek	15
12/14/24 @ Harvard	15
01/25/24 @ Hi-Line [Eustis-Farnam/Elwood]	14
12/29/23 vs Heartland Lutheran	14

Axtell lost despite a true team effort on offense. The best among them was Elijah Bergstrom, who went 8-for-15 on his way to 27 points and seven boards. Those 27 points gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jacob Halvorsen, who dropped a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Even though they lost, Axtell smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least ten offensive rebounds in seven consecutive matchups.

Loomis got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Tyson Essex out in front who almost dropped a double-double with 17 points and nine boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Hoyt Thorell, who posted nine points and three steals.

Axtell's loss dropped their record down to 7-12. As for Loomis, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a massive bump to their 12-8 record this season.

Axtell has already played their next game, a 64-60 defeat against Southwest on the 14th. As for Loomis, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 67-57 loss against Pleasanton on the 14th.