ELY- In boxing terms, the early January bout between North Woods and Ely girls hoops teams was the equivalent of a 12-round slugfest ending in a split decision in favor of the Ely girls, 64-61. But the highly anticipated rematch in Ely last week, Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves II, turned out to be a knockout for the Wolves, who walked away from the ring with a 66-41 win.
This Melee in Ely had all the makings of another barnburner at the outset, as North Woods jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead on hoops by Helen Koch, River Cheney, and Hannah Kinsey. The Wolves pulled even at 10-10 on a free throw by Madeline Kallberg, then pulled ahead on a bucket by Claire Thomas. As the Wolves heated up, the Grizzlies cooled down, missing shots, forcing bad passes for turnovers, and scoring only four points over the next nine minutes. The Wolves were far more effective, getting scores from Madeline Perry, Grace LaTourell, Zoe Mackenzie, and Thomas to build a 12-point advantage, 26-14. The Grizzlies regained their footing down the stretch, with a pair of Cheney free throws cutting Ely’s lead to 28-22 at the half.
A trey by LaTourell and an bucket by Hannah Penke gave the Wolves a little breathing room at 37-27, but the Grizzlies countered with a triple from Kinsey and a score by Kiana LaRoque to stay within striking distance. But a shot by the Grizzlies’ Brynn Chosa with just under nine minutes remaining would be the last basket North Woods would see for the next five minutes, and the Wolves threw their knockout haymaker, a devastating 17-1 blitz that gave them a commanding 58-35 lead with just over three minutes left. Five Ely players scored in the streak. The Wolves coasted the rest of the way for the 66-41 win.
“It started a little slow, but once we started moving the ball around, they got tired,” Ely Head Coach Max Gantt said. “Our defense just kept working. I’m really, really proud of our defense.”
The Wolves had good success on offense by driving and dishing the ball to open players for easy shots.
“That’s when we’re at our best,” Gantt said. “Even if we run a set and that breaks down, it’s just drive and kick. We have a lot of ball handlers and we have a lot of shooters. I was really impressed with how we found people off the drive.”
For North Woods Head Coach Liz Cheney, the formula leading to the Grizzlies’ loss was clear.
“Bad passing, missed shots, and lack of rebounds,” Cheney said. “But we still played with them despite all of that. The last six minutes doesn’t reflect the game as a whole. I think the girls just kind of gave up a little bit there at the end.”
For Cheney, the last week of the regular season will be focused on getting back to the basics to tune up for sectionals, she said.
Ely had four players score in double figures, led by Perry with 16. LaTourell pumped in 15, while Penke and Thomas each had 12. North Woods was led by Kinsey with 13, followed by Cheney with 11.