Offensive drought plagues the Panthers in loss to Amery

By Andrew Harrington
Posted 12/17/24

ELLSWORTH — A strong second half from the Ellsworth girls basketball team was not enough to overcome a 21-4 run against them in the first half, losing to Amery 43-31 Dec. 10.

Amery swiftly …

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Offensive drought plagues the Panthers in loss to Amery

Posted

ELLSWORTH — A strong second half from the Ellsworth girls basketball team was not enough to overcome a 21-4 run against them in the first half, losing to Amery 43-31 Dec. 10.

Amery swiftly built a 7-0 lead in 90 seconds of game time, which Ellsworth quickly countered with an and-one from freshman Jenna Stoltenburg and a couple tough buckets from Morgan Halverson to tie it 7-7. The scoreline was pushed to 12-11 in Amery’s favor when a disastrous stretch hit the Panther offense.

In the final 13:30 of the half, Ellsworth scored just four points as defensive pressure was getting to them. Amery closed the half on a 21-4 run to snatch a 31-15 lead.

“They were pretty quick with it, so moving the ball was hard, adjusting to movement and ball passing, all of that was a challenge for the girls,” Head Coach Haylee Yaeger said. “They received a lot of pressure, they would pass, they would get pressured, they would pass, they would get pressured. Just focusing on this next week of playing with pressure.”

Ellsworth played to its expectations in the second half and actually won the half, it just was too little too late to come from behind for a win.

“I would say they’re a shorter team in this conference, but they’re very, very quick,” Yaeger said. “That posed challenges whether we were driving to the rim trying to get a bucket or we were defending them.”

Ellsworth found the bounce back they were looking for Thursday, beating New Richmond 55-47 and now boasting a pair of wins over Big Rivers Conference opponents with the other win coming in the season opener against River Falls.

The win improved Ellsworth to 3-4 overall, but the Panthers are still looking to climb out of an 0-3 hole in conference games.

“Every night’s a battle, but just the fact we’ve seen them the first time and having them scouted, watching their other games. Just knowing and focusing on their personnel and doing what we can to adjust to who we’re playing and who we are,” Yaeger said.

Halverson, who officially signed to play for Hamline University the same day, led the team at nearly half of their points with 15, eight rebounds and three blocks.

“She gives us a lot of leadership but also gives us a lot of energy,” Yaeger said. “She’s a great post player. She’s very solid, very strong.”

Ellsworth’s final game before the winter break comes on the road against Baldwin-Woodville on Friday with a chance to get a Middle Border win on the line.

Ellsworth Panthers, Amery Warriors, girls basketball, Middle Border