Ellsworth senior post Missy Leuthold puts up a shot over Edgerton’s Kendra Van’t Hof during Monday’s girls’ basketball game in Ellsworth. Leuthold scored eight points and collected seven rebounds during a 51-47 loss to the Flying Dutchmen.By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth girls’ basketball team lost a pair of heart-wrenching games during the second week of the season.The Panthers dropped a one-point decision to Lakeview in Cottonwood Friday before losing their home opener by four points to Edgerton Monday.Ellsworth, 1-2 overall, hosts Canby Friday.Edgerton 51,Ellsworth 47A late surge by the Flying Dutchmen spoiled what was a great comeback by the Panthers during Monday’s game in Ellsworth.The hosts appeared to be in big trouble when they fell behind by 16 points (39-23) in the third quarter, but EHS battled back with a 20-2 run that ended with the Panthers sporting a 43-41 lead with less than two minutes left to play.Edgerton, however, scored the next six points to regain the lead and fought off some late challenges to win by four."The girls showed a lot of character when they came back after being way down in the second half," said Panther coach Dean Schnaible. "Sophomores Rachel Kvaale and Amy Tiesler deserve a lot of credit for the spark they gave us. They came in the game midway through the third quarter and scored a combined 10 points in the second half."Edgerton sported slim 9-8 and 26-23 leads at the first two quarter breaks, but the Flying Dutchmen scored the first 13 points of the third quarter to open a 39-23 lead.Ellsworth scored the final four points of the third quarter to trail 39-27 and opened the fourth quarter with a 16-2 run capped by a pair of free throws from Kvaale with 2:06 remaining to give the Panthers their first lead (43-41) since the first quarter.After Edgerton moved in front 49-45 with less than 25 seconds remaining, Ellsworth’s Laurel Drenth canned a field goal with 14 seconds left to make it a 49-47 game. The Panthers got the ball back with 9.2 seconds left, but turned the ball over to the Flying Dutchmen, who iced the win with two free throws with four seconds left to play.Drenth led the Panthers with 21 points and eight assists. She also had four rebounds. Brittney Kramer led the Panthers with eight rebounds, while Missy Leuthold charted seven rebounds, three steals and three deflections. Kvaale had three steals, and Marla Groen recorded three deflections.Box scoreTiesler 2 0 0-0 4, Majchrzak 0 0 0-0 0, Leuthold 4 0 0-0 8, Kvaale 2 0 2-2 6, Ly.Drenth 0 0 0-0 0, Groen 1 1 0-1 5, Kramer 0 0 1-2 1, Timmer 1 0 0-2 2, Lr.Drenth 6 0 9-10 21.Team statisticsEllsworth: 17 of 50 field goals (34 percent), 12 of 16 free throws (75 percent), 33 rebounds, 21 turnovers.Edgerton: 21 of 52 field goals (40 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 27 rebounds, 17 turnovers.Lakeview 40,Ellsworth 39The Panthers came up one point short when they opened Camden Conference play in Cottonwood Friday.Lakeview took advantage of 25 turnovers and poor shooting from the free-throw line to sport slim leads at all four quarter breaks.The Lakers led 7-6 and 17-15 at the end of the first and second quarters before taking a 28-27 edge into the fourth quarter, when they battled the Panthers to a draw at 12 to win by one."The differences in the game were our 25 turnovers and shooting 59 percent from the free-throw line," said Panther coach Schnaible. "We were stagnant on offense. It was a disappointing loss, and we didn’t deserve to win the game."Laurel Drenth, who sat out a good share of the first half with foul trouble, led the Panthers with 10 points, two blocked shots and two steals. Drenth and Marla Groen shared the team lead with seven rebounds and three assists. Missy Leuthold added six rebounds.Box scoreMajchrzak 0 0 0-0 0, Leuthold 2 0 1-5 5, Kvaale 0 1 0-0 3, Ly.Drenth 0 0 0-0 0, Lr.Drenth 3 0 4-6 10, Groen 2 0 4-4 8, Kramer 2 0 0-0 4, Timmer 4 0 1-2 9.Team statisticsEllsworth: 14 of 40 field goals (35 percent), 10 of 17 free throws (59 percent), 30 rebounds, 25 turnovers.Lakeview: 15 of 55 field goals (27 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 24 rebounds, 14 turnovers.
