Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Ely stymies Grizz

Experience tops height as Wolves win 46-38

David Colburn
Posted 2/17/21

ELY- The Ely girls basketball team held fast to one of the basic tenets of competition when they hosted North Woods last Thursday: When you get someone down, don’t let them get up.Even though …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Ely stymies Grizz

Experience tops height as Wolves win 46-38

Posted

ELY- The Ely girls basketball team held fast to one of the basic tenets of competition when they hosted North Woods last Thursday: When you get someone down, don’t let them get up.
Even though the Timberwolves were outsized by the Grizzlies, they grabbed an early lead and then locked-in defensively to capture their first home and second overall win of the season on Thursday night with a score of 46-38.
“North Woods is young like us, so it was nice to get a win against a team we will likely be competing with for a while. I’m going to credit this win to solid defense. We played well,” said Ely head coach Max Gantt.
The Timberwolves kept their opponents off balance with tenacious defense that held North Woods to barely half of the points the Grizzlies scored in their previous game against Northeast Range. The Timberwolves recorded seven blocked shots and three charges. Gantt gave a nod to the play of Laura Holmstrom coming off the bench.
“When Laura was in, we were awesome on defense,” Gantt said.
On this night, youth worked against the Grizzlies.
“We just struggled a bit coming together,” North Woods head coach Liz Cheney said. “We had a couple of rookie young mistakes that we haven’t made too many of this year, but we’re ninth and tenth graders. Some key mistakes really kind of got in their heads.”
Ely kept the pressure up on the offensive end, too, and shooting a better percentage from the free-throw line would have solidified the game much sooner. The Timberwolves made just seven of 29 charities on the night.
Grace Latourell led the Timberwolves with a smooth 16 points and five rebounds. Taylor Gibney was also a key component to Ely’s success, not only scoring 12 points but also creating numerous opportunities by driving into the lane and dishing to teammates.
Madison Spears was the only frontline player able to capitalize down low for the Grizzlies, pumping in 14 points. Guard Madi Dantes chipped in 10.
“We hustled and played really hard,” Cheney said. “It just wasn’t coming together for us. I’d love to play Ely again and have a little bit better mental game.”
Gantt’s overall assessment of the contest was succinct and to the point.
“First home win, felt great to get it,” said Gantt.

(Timberjay contributing writer Jordan Price provided information for this article)