By John Rittenhouse
The Ellsworth girls’ basketball team fell out of contention for a Camden Conference championship after losing a 13-point decision in Minneota Friday.
The Panthers were scheduled to play Lincoln HI in Ivanhoe Tuesday, but the game was postponed (no rescheduled date has been announced) due to poor weather conditions in the Ivanhoe area.
Ellsworth, 14-7 overall, hosts Lakeview tonight.
Minneota 65,
Ellsworth 52
A dominating first half by the home-standing Vikings set the stage for a 13-point victory over the Panthers in Minneota Friday.
Minneota ambushed EHS by opening 23-13 and 41-15 leads at the first two quarter breaks.
Ellsworth did outscore the Vikings 37-24 in the second half, but the Panthers simply couldn’t overcome what happened to them in the first 16 minutes of play.
"It was a nightmare," said Panther coach Schnaible. "We shouldn’t have gotten off the bus because we were not mentally ready to play. It was 41-15 at halftime, and I thought it was the poorest display of defense on our part in my three and one-half seasons of coaching in Ellsworth. We didn’t contest any of their shots, and they did a good job of making them."
Jenna Groen scored 25 points, including 19 in the second half, and charted five steals for EHS. Brittney Kramer, Danielle Jenniges and Missy Leuthold added 10, six and five rebounds respectively.
Box score
M.Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, Jenniges 1 0 2-2 4, Drenth 4 0 0-0 8, J.Leuthold 0 0 0-2 0, M.Groen 0 0 0-0 0, J.Groen 7 1 8-14 25, Kramer 4 0 1-2 9, Timmer 2 0 2-4 6.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 19 of 58 field goals (33 percent), 13 of 24 free throws (54 percent), 37 rebounds, 16 turnovers.
Minneota: 21 of 56 field goals (38 percent), 19 of 28 free throws (68 percent), 37 rebounds, 17 turnovers.
