The good hands of a chiropractor’s son came in handy during a basketball game Friday night.

Maddon McKim’s first career double-double and his three steals provided an example of his soft mitts, while his performance helped Prairie Ridge beat visiting Dundee-Crown 41-28 in a Fox Valley Conference game.

McKim stepped up in a game that both teams needed, if nothing else for confidence. Prairie Ridge (4-13, 4-4 FVC) was coming off a loss two nights earlier to conference-leader Cary-Grove in which it failed to protect an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.

D-C (3-13, 0-8 FVC), which was led by Anthony Spain’s nine points and four rebounds, lost its fourth game in a row after having won three straight.

Prairie Ridge never trailed in improving to 2-2 in 2026.

“We believe in our guys, and we know we can be competitive with just about anybody,” Wolves coach Brian Frericks said. “We believe we’re a solid team. We don’t think our record shows just how competitive we have been in a lot of these games.”

McKim, a 6-foot-3 senior, is a multi-sport athlete whose main sport is baseball. A lefty-hitting first baseman, he swings a college-level bat, but he isn’t planning on playing baseball at the next level.

Owner of a 4.65 GPA on a 4.0 scale, McKim plans to go the pre-med route in college, majoring in biology and minoring in chemistry. Following in the footsteps of his dad, Mark, who’s a chiropractor, is a consideration.

“I’ve learned a lot from him, so I’ve fallen in love with [chiropractic],” said McKim, who’s looking at Purdue, Illinois and Marquette.

Having played baseball for Wolves Hall of Fame coach Glen Pecoraro the past couple of years, McKim knows no win comes easy in the FVC, whether it’s baseball or basketball, no matter a team’s record.

“Coach Pec always said, ‘Anyone can beat anyone any day,’ ” McKim said. “The FVC is competitive. I feel very confident that going into the second half [of the conference basketball season] that we’re going to do very well. Our team is going to perform.”

McKim was the only player from either side to score in double figures. His teammates Eli Loeding and, in particular, Brendan Beu helped limit D-C’s leading scorer Rasheed Trice to only three points.

“They did a good job guarding him,” Chargers coach Lance Huber said. “I thought their defense was excellent, and he had a hard time.”

Beu scored seven points, including a first-quarter 3-pointer in helping the Wolves build an 8-1 lead. Loeding, the Wolves’ leading scorer, picked up two fouls in the game’s first three minutes, sat most of the half, and finished with two points.

Trice, who came in averaging almost 16 points a game, shot 0 of 4 from the floor and 3 of 6 from the foul line.

“Our original plan was to have Eli on [Trice] the whole game,” Frericks said. “He’s a good athlete. We wanted that length there. Eli picked up some early fouls so we made the switch, and Brendan did a great job. He worked so hard, and he’s such a good defender.”

Prairie Ridge debuted 3-2 zone defense in the second half. The Wolves held the Chargers to eight points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth.

“It’s something we’ve been working on a little bit in practice, and we thought this was the time to bring it out,” Frericks said. “We’ve been man [defense] basically the entire year. It was a change of pace, and it seemed to work out pretty well for us.”

D-C’s Kadin Malone had eight points, including a 3-pointer, three steals, and took two charges.