GIRLS
Ellinwood Preseason Tournament
Friday
Sterling 50, Ellinwood 30
STERLING
Splitter 3 0-0 6, Nuest 0 0-0 0, 1 0-2 2, Enfield 0 0-0 0, Oden 2 2-3 6, Lambert 1 0-0 2, Carter 0 2-2 2, Dowell 4 1-2 9, Cain 3 0-0 6, Proffitt 5 3-4 13, Ahnert 2 0-0 4, Williford 0 0-2 0. Totals 22 8-15 50.
ELLINWOOD (2-1)
Munson 0 0-0 0, Klepper 0 0-0 0, Schartz 2 1-2 6, Beckwith 2 0-0 5, Christiansen 2 0-0 4, Miller 0 1-2 1, Corbett 0 0-0 0, Patten 0 0-2 0, Thill 2 10-14 14. Totals 8 12-19 30.
Sterling 14 11 17 8 — 50
Ellinwood 4 6 7 13 — 30
Three-point goals — Ellinwood 2 (Schartz 1, Beckwith 1); Sterling (None).
Thursday
At Ellinwood
Ellinwood 31, Chase 30
CHASE
Jaske 2 1-5 5, A. Brady 0 2-2 2, Ray 2 4-8 8, Root 0 0-0 0, Kizzar 4 0-0 8, Brady 3 1-2 8, Sledd 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 8-17 30.
ELLINWOOD (2-1)
Munson 0 0-2 0, Klepper 0 0-0 0, Schartz 1 1-1 3, Beckwith 0 0-0 0, Christiansen 3 0-2 6, Miller 1 0-2 2, Corbett 1 0-0 2, Patten 0 0-0 0, Thill 6 6-6 18. Totals 12 7-13 31.
Chase 8 3 4 15 — 30
Ellinwood 8 5 6 12 — 31
Three-point goals — Ellinwood (None); Chase (None).
BY KEVIN PRICE
kprice@gbtribune.com
ELLINWOOD — The Ellinwood High School girls’ basketball team dug itself a hole early that they couldn’t climb out of against Sterling Friday night at the Ellinwood Preseason Tournament.
The Lady Eagles lost to Sterling, 50-30.
It was a rough start for the Lady Eagles. After a quick turnover caused by the Black Bears’ full-court press, Ellinwood found itself behind 4-0 after the first minute and a half.
“Well, we came out and we were kind of sluggish,” Lady Eagles head coach Bill Duncan said. “We turned the ball over two or three quick times, but then in the first half, we only had 11 turnovers and they attacked our 1-3-1 zone really good and we didn’t rebound well.
“When you get outrebounded 36-16 and shoot 28 percent, you’re probably not going to win too many games.”
Darrien Beckwith, who finished the game with five points, hit a 3-pointer to close the gap and then Lauren Thill went to the free-throw line and hit 1 of 2 to knot it at 4.
Sterling followed Thill’s free throw with a 10-0 run to close the first quarter with a 14-4 lead.
“My girls don’t usually shoot 28 percent, so I would just say, if we played again and we shot 40 percent, its going to be a game,” Duncan said.
Bailey Schartz, who finished the game with six points, opened the second quarter for Ellinwood with a long basket and Thill went back to the line to get the Lady Eagles two points, but the Black Bears still outscored Ellinwood 11-6.
Sterling was ahead at the half, 25-10.
The Lady Eagles’ strongest quarter was the fourth, when Thill began to crash the paint, drawing fouls.
Thill went the line 14 times, hitting 10 free throws on her way to a game-high 14 points. Her foul shots, along with four points from Schartz, helped the Lady Eagles outscore the Black Bears 13-8 in the fourth period.
“I just tell the girls to reflect,” Duncan said. “Take what you did positive and ask what do I need to work on. They do that themselves and I do that as a coach, too. Coach Gatton and I were talking. Maybe we should have pressed a little more in the first half.”
