By John Rittenhouse
A slumping Ellsworth girls’ basketball team dropped its third consecutive game Friday in Lake Benton.
The Panthers made a bid to erase a 16-point deficit in the second half by pulling within two points of the Bobcats late in the fourth quarter, but Lake Benton scored the game’s final four points to pull out a 66-60 victory.
Ellsworth started the season by winning four of its first five games, but the Panthers now stand at 4-4 after losing three straight tilts.
The Panthers will return to action Jan. 3 in Tyler.
EHS did show some spirit with a late run in Lake Benton. Trailing 30-20 at the intermission, the Panthers fell behind by 16 points at one stage of the third quarter before trimming the difference to 11 points (53-42) at period’s end.
The Panthers outscored the Bobcats 18-9 in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to trail 62-60, but Lake Benton escaped with a six-point victory by scoring the game’s final four points.
"We couldn’t make a defensive stop when we needed to," said Panther coach Dean Schnaible. "Lake Benton played better than we did, and they deserved to win."
Danielle Jenniges scored 14 points to lead EHS. Jenna Groen scored 11 points and passed for seven assists. Kayla Boltjes scored 12 points. Laurel Drenth led the Panthers with eight rebounds while Amy Timmer added eight.
Box score
Boltjes 1 3 1-1 13, M.Leuthold 1 0 0-0 2, Jenniges 4 0 6-7 14, Drenth 2 0 0-1 4, M..Groen 3 1 0-0 9, J.Groen 1 0 9-10 11, Timmer 3 0 2-3 8.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 19 of 40 field goals (48 percent), 18 of 23 free throws (78 percent), 31 rebounds, 26 turnovers.
Lake Benton: 24 of 52 field goals (46 percent), 15 of 25 free throws (60 percent), 30 rebounds, 20 turnovers.
