BY KEVIN PRICE

kprice@gbtribune.com

HOISINGTON — For one quarter, the Hoisington High School girls’ basketball team and Ellinwood were evenly matched, but after the first quarter, the Lady Cardinals began to break away with the Mid-Central Activities Association game and claimed the conference win, 41-31.
In the first quarter, Ellinwood was supported offensively by Lauren Thill.
It was Thill’s eight points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer, that kep the game tied at eight and it was Thill’s rebounding that helped prevent the Lady Cardinals from getting second-chance shots, that kept the Lady Eagles in the game.
Thill finished the game with a game-high 12 points.
Hoisington missed a couple of 3-point play opportunities early on, but the Lady Cardinals were able to seperate themselves in the second quarter, going on a 9-3 run led by Mallory Flagor.
Flagor, a 5-foot-11 junior, was kept silent in the first quarter, but became more of a threat as the game went along, finishing the night with a team-high 11 points.
“She’s a force inside and she’s got great jumping abilities,” Hoisington head coach Mandy Mason said of Flagor. “She moves the ball well and she usually does a great job finishing. So that’s one of our options going into it, and it’s been a problem lately because everyone has been focusing on that, playing a zone. Stuffing everything inside and making it difficult for us to get inside.
“She missed a couple of buckets, but she isn’t generally going to miss that many.”
However, the Lady Eagles closed the gap to 19-17 with a quick five points, including a second buzzer-beating trey.
The second half favored the Lady Cardinals, who outscored Ellinwood 22-14 led by Brandy Wondra, who finished the game with nine points.
Ellinwood’s head coach Bill Duncan said he wasn’t sure what changed in the second half.
“If I knew that, I’d do something different,” Duncan said about the difference between the first and second half of the game. “I think maybe it might be my rotation. I told them tonight that I’m going to find seven or eight girls during the Hoisington tournament and those are the seven or eight girls that are going to play.”
Mason said she noticed a difference in her team.
“I felt like after halftime, we came out a little relaxed,” Mason said. “We started out the same way we ended the first half, but then we kind of went through a spell where we were very intense.
“We weren’t doing a very good job getting around there screens. They were getting some open looks on the baseline and that kept them in the ball game.”
Thill was kept quiet, only scoring two points in the second half, but Ellinwood’s Bailey Schartz picked up her game, scoring seven of her 11 points in the latter quarters.
“We focused on (Thill) a little bit more, and tried to surround her with different players,” Mason said of containing Thill to only two points in the second half. “We tried to make it difficult for her to get open looks.”
The win gives the Lady Cardinals a little pick up before they host the Hoisington Winter Jam starting on Monday.
“We’re not really sure yet what kind of team we are,” Mason said. “We’re still searching for that. We’ve got a lot of role players. It could be a different five on the court on any different night.”
Hoisington will play Russell on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament, while Ellinwood plays Quivira Heights on Monday in the same tournament.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
At Hoisington

Hoisington 41, Ellinwood 31

ELLINWOOD (2-8)
     Ashlie Munson 0 0-0 0, Michelle Klepper 0 0-0 0, Bailey Schartz 3 5-6 11, Shelbi Trarbach 0 0-0 0, Darrien Beckwith 1 0-0 2, Jaime Christainsen 1 0-1 2,  Reba Thomas 0 0-0 0, Michelle Miller 1 1-2 4, Kenzie Corbett 0 0-3 0, Lauren Thill 5 1-2 12, Becca Strecker 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 7-14 31.
HOISINGTON (3-5)
     BreAnna Burns 3 0-0 6, Jordin Greer 3 1-2 7, Savannah Rose 1 0-0 2, Brandy Wondra 3 3-7 9, Belle Brickley 2 2-3 6, Blakelee Cooper 0 0-0 0, Mallory Flagor 5 1-5 11. Totals 17 7-17 41.
Hoisington    8    11    14    8    —    41
Ellinwood    8     9     7    7    —    31
     Three-point goals — Hoisington (None); Ellinwood 2 (Miller, Thill).