By John Rittenhouse
The Ellsworth girls’ basketball team recorded a pair of victories coming off the Christmas break.
The Panthers nipped Russell-Tyler-Ruthton by two points in Tyler Friday before rolling to a 22-point home win over Harris-Lake Park, Iowa, Monday.
Ellsworth, 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the Camden Conference, hosts Minneota and Southwest Star Concept Friday and Monday respectively.
Ellsworth 50, H-LP 28
A solid second half carried the Panthers to a 22-point home win over Harris-Lake Park Monday.
After sporting 9-8 and 20-17 leads in the first two quarters of play, EHS outscored the visitors 30-11 in the second half to win handily.
"The big thing was we changed things up defensively in the second half," said Panther coach Dean Schnaible.
"We used man-to-man, full-court pressure, and we used a 1-2-1-1 zone press in full-court and three-quarter-court sets. Then Jenna Groen came up big by scoring 13 points in the second half."
The Panthers opened a 10-point lead (32-22) by the end of the third quarter before outscoring H-LP 18-6 in the final eight minutes of play.
Groen scored 21 points to lead the Panthers offensively. Janice Leuthold and Brittney Kramer pulled down seven rebounds each, and Danielle Jenniges charted three steals. Missy Leuthold helped the cause by recording four deflections, three assists and two steals.
Box score
Deutsch 0 0 0-0 0, M.Leuthold 1 0 0-0 2, Jenniges 0 0 1-4 1, Ly.Drenth 0 0 0-0 0. Lr.Drenth 1 0 1-2 3, J.Leuthold 0 0 1-2 1, M.Groen 1 0 0-0 2, J.Groen 6 2 3-6 21, Kramer 4 0 1-4 9, Timmer 3 0 3-3 9, Lindstrom 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
Ellsworth 19 of 55 field goals (35 percent), 10 of 21 free throws (48 percent), 37 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
H-LP: 10 of 36 field goals (28 percent), seven of 20 free throws (35 percent), 26 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
Ellsworth 60, R-T-R 58
The Panthers snapped a three-game losing skid when they nipped the Knights by two points in their first game of 2003 in Tyler Friday.
Trailing 40-37 heading into the fourth quarter, EHS senior Groen spurred the Panthers to a come-from-behind victory by scoring 13 of her team-high 32 points in the decisive fourth quarter.
Groen, who had seven assists in the contest, scored the go-ahead basket when the game was tied at 58 with less than one minute remaining in regulation play.
"Jenna Groen was the key to this win," said Panther coach Schnaible. "She made 11 of 20 field goals in the game, and she took over the game in the fourth quarter by penetrating R-T-R’s defense with the dribble.
Groen scored nine points to help the Panthers open a 19-8 advantage in the first quarter, but the Knights sliced the difference to six points (30-24) by halftime before taking a three-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Laurel Drenth had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for EHS. Missy Leuthold had three steals and three deflections.
Box score
M.Leuthold 1 0 0-1 2, Jenniges 2 0 0-0 4, Drenth 4 0 2-7 10, J.Leuthold 0 0 2-2 2, M.Groen 2 0 2-2 6, Kramer 0 0 0-0 0, Timmer 2 0 0-0 4, J.Groen 10 1 9-13 22.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 22 of 45 field goals (49 percent), 15 of 25 free throws (60 percent), 28 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
R-T-R: 19 of 60 field goals (32 percent), 16 of 26 free throws (62 percent), 30 rebounds, 16 turnovers.