Panthers overcome Northeast

     While it wasn’t the type of performance Monticello girls basketball coach Donnie Kremer was looking for, the Panthers did emerge with a 45-35 victory in a Dec. 18 home game against Northeast of Goose Lake.

     Kremer said his team definitely could have played better.

     “We did not take care of the ball very well at all,” Kremer said. “We are not valuing the ball the way we do in practice. We are not making very good choices when we have the ball, and our passing needs major work.”

     Other factors that didn’t go well were the team’s field goal shooting, 16-for-48 (33 percent), and its 10-for-24 shooting from the free throw line (41.7 percent).

     Monticello (6-2, 7-2) did have a number of positive things come out of the game. Eight different Panthers scored points, led by Carly Hayen with 12. Sydney Hansen had eight points and eight rebounds, and Tori McDonald had seven points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Maddie Fellinger added six points and six rebounds, and Gabrielle Guilford had five points and five rebounds.

     “We made a few more shots than they did, and at times our pressure got us some easy baskets,” Kremer said. “We played hard for a majority of the game.”

     The Panthers also had three blocked shots, one each from Hayen, Aspen Gillmore and Gabrielle Steiner.

     Monticello was scheduled to play its final game of 2018 Dec. 21 at Durant. Results of that game will appear in the Jan. 2 Express.

Dec. 18

N’east   4    8 11 12 – 35

Monti    6 14 17   8  – 45

     MONTICELLO (45) – Tori McDonald 2-4 3-5 7, Maddie Fellinger 2-8 1-2 6, Sydney Hansen 3-8 2-5 8, Aspen Gillmore 0-4 1-3 1, Carly Hayen 6-14 0-2 12, Gabrielle Guilford 2-4 0-3 5, Gabrielle Steiner 0-3 3-4 3, Karli Recker 1-2 0-0 3, Rebekah Prull 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Schlarmann 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-48 10-24 45.

     Three-pointers: Fellinger, Guilford, K. Recker.

     Rebounds: Monticello 41 (Hansen 8, McDonald 8, Fellinger 6).

     Total fouls: Monticello 18.