Ellsworth juior guard Marla Groen protects the ball from a SV-RL-B player during monday's girls' basketball game in Ellsworth.By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth girls’ basketball team played its way to a split while hosting a pair of opponents.The Panthers lost a 12-point Camden Conference tilt to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Friday before posting a 14-point victory over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Monday.Ellsworth, 5-4 overall, hosts Minneota Friday before playing Lincoln HI in Ivanhoe Tuesday.Ellsworth 56,SV-RL-B 42The Panthers overcame a season-high 35 turnovers to post a 14-point win over the Raiders on Parents’ Night in Ellsworth Monday.Ellsworth’s inability to protect the ball allowed SV-RL-B to remain within striking distance of the Panthers all night, but the winless Raiders were unable to seriously challenge EHS after falling behind 11 points in the first quarter.The Panthers sported a 4-3 edge before going on an 11-0 run capped by Laurel Drenth’s field goal at the 2:04 mark of the first period that gave the hosts a 15-3 cushion.SV-RL-B trimmed the difference to 11 points (15-4) by period’s end, but the Panthers outscored the Raiders 10-2 in the first 4:24 of the second quarter and led 25-6 when Marla Groen hit a three-point shot. An 8-1 surge by SV-RL-B made it a 26-14 game with less than one minute remaining in the first half. Ellsworth’s Amy Timmer, however, converted a pair of field goals in the final 30 seconds to make it a 30-14 difference at the intermission.After falling behind by 18 points early in the third quarter, SV-RL-B trimmed the difference to 11 points (36-25) at the 2:39 mark of the stanza. The Panthers closed the quarter with a 6-2 spurt to lead 42-27 at period’s end.The Raiders came within 11 points of EHS three different times in the fourth quarter before falling by 14 in the end.Drenth, who had a streak of four consecutive double-doubles snapped during the contest, led EHS with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists. The Ellsworth coaching staff praised the play of sophomore Amy Tiesler, who scored nine points and collected four rebounds as well as playing solid defense during her first varsity start.Box scoreTiesler 4 0 1-1 9, Mann 0 0 0-0 0, Majchrzak 1 0 1-2 3, Leuthold 0 0 0-1 0, Kvaale 0 0 0-0 0, Ly.Drenth 1 0 2-2 4, Lr.Drenth 8 0 5-5 21, Lewis 0 0 0-0 0, Groen 0 1 3-4 6, Connors 0 0 0-0 0, Kramer 1 0 1-2 3, A.Timmer 4 0 0-1 8, Peters 1 0 0-0 2, L.Timmer 0 0 0-0 0.Team statisticsEllsworth: 21 of 39 field goals (54 percent), 13 of 18 free throws (72 percent), 25 rebounds, 35 turnovers.SV-RL-B: 14 of 51 field goals (28 percent), 14 of 25 free throws (56 percent), 21 rebounds, 25 turnovers.R-T-R 68, Ellsworth 56Poor shooting in the first quarter by the Panthers led to a 12-point home loss to the Knights Friday.Ellsworth played right along with a talented R-T-R team in the final three quarters, but the Panthers were zero of 13 from the field in the first quarter and were never able to recover from the early hole they dug for themselves."We didn’t have any field goals in the first quarter," said Panther coach Dean Schnaible. "You have to be able to put the ball into the hole against a good team like R-T-R, and we didn’t do that. R-T-R was the better ball club Friday, and they were the best team we’ve played so far this year."The Knights led 13-4 after limiting the Panthers to four free throws in the first quarter, and they outscored EHS 21-15 in the second quarter to open a 15-point (34-19) halftime lead. EHS outscored R-T-R 22-18 in the third quarter to trail 52-41. The Panthers trimmed the difference to five points at one stage of the fourth quarter before falling by 14 in the end.Laurel Drenth registered her fourth consecutive double-double by scoring 29 points and nabbing 10 rebounds for the Panthers. She also had four assists. Melissa Leuthold also charted four assists. Schnaible said Mya Mann, who was playing in her first varsity game, helped the Panthers get back into the game in the second half with her play on defense.Box scoreTiesler 1 0 3-5 5, Mann 0 0 0-0 0, Majchrzak 0 0 0-1 0, Leuthold 1 0 2-2 4, Kvaale 2 0 0-0 4, Ly.Drenth 1 0 0-0 2, Lr.Drenth 8 1 10-15 29, Groen 1 0 1-2 3, Kramer 2 0 0-1 4, Timmer 2 0 1-3 5.Team statisticsEllsworth 19 of 53 field goals (36 percent), 17 of 29 free throws (59 percent), 28 rebounds, 20 turnovers.R-T-R: 26 of 59 field goals (44 percent), 14 of 28 free throws (50 percent), 38 rebounds, 15 turnovers.
