Panthers pick up wins over Alburnett, Durant

Monticello 52, Alburnett 40

   Playing in front of the home crowd for the first time this season, the Monticello girls basketball team battled to a 52-40 win over Alburnett on Dec. 2.

   “I thought we did a nice job handling the physicality of the game. We knew coming in that it would be a battle for four quarters,” Panther coach Donnie Kremer said.

    The Pirates took a quick 4-0 lead to start the game, but a triple from Kennedy Hermsen got Monti on the board with six minutes left in the first quarter. Alburnett got out to a 9-5 lead, before Peyton Ries cashed in a three at the buzzer to make it 9-8 after one quarter.

   The Panthers took the lead early in the second quarter, as a three from Hermsen made it 14-9 with five minutes left in the frame. The Pirates responded to make it 18-17, but a steal and fast break bucket for Ries gave Monti a 20-17 lead at halftime.

   “We talked about settling down and just do what we do, run the floor and get layups,” Kremer said of his halftime message to the girls. “We needed to push the tempo since they were sending so many girls on the offensive glass. The other thing was to be strong with the ball and take care of it.”

   The Panthers made the adjustments and outscored the Pirates 15-7 in the third quarter to take a 35-24 lead into the fourth.

   An Alburnett triple started the fourth quarter scoring, but Mallory McElmeel drilled a three on the other end to make the score 38-27 with 6:49 left in the game.

   The Pirates made a run, but late steals from Hermsen and Halle Recker kept the Panthers out front.

   “I was extremely happy with how we answered their run in the fourth quarter,” Kremer commented. “I also thought we did an excellent job finding the open girl for easy layups, and defensively, I thought we did a really good job taking away what they wanted to do.”

   McElmeel led the Panthers with 17 points, 10 rebounds and added three assists.

   “I thought Mallory had an outstanding game all-around. She got things going with her cutting ability,” Kremer said.

(vs. Alburnett)

Monti........... 8  12  15  17  52

Alburnett..... 9    8    7  16  40

TEAM STATISTICS

                         Monti    Alb.

FG Made-Att............. 20-45  16-51

3PT Made-Att.............. 4-14   4-14

FT Made-Att................ 8-19   4-12

Rebounds......................... 41      30

Assists............................... 13       7

Steals................................. 13      16

Blocks.................................. 1       2

Turnovers......................... 24      17

Fouls.................................. 11      19

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Mallory McElmeel 17 (8-11); Peyton Ries 12 (5-16); Kennedy Hermsen 10 (4-8); Halle Recker (0-4); Kylee McElmeel 4 (1-4); Kenya Davis-Robinson 4 (2-2)

Three-pointers (Made-Att) – Hermsen 2-5; Ries 1-5; McElmeel 1-2; Recker 0-2

Rebounds – Mallory McElmeel 10; Ries 9; Hermsen 7; Recker 4; Kayla Arduser 3; Davis-Robinson 3; Kylee McElmeel 1

Assists – Recker 4; Mallory McElmeel 3, Ries 3, Hermsen 2, Kylee McElmeel 1

Steals – Hermsen 4, Recker 3, Ries 3, Mallory McElmeel 1, Kylee McElmeel 1, Arduser 1

Blocks – Ries 1

Monticello 46, Durant 32

   Back inside the Monticello High School gym on Dec. 5, the Panthers took down Durant 46-32.

   “I thought we did an excellent job finding the open girl for easy shots,” Kremer said. “Defensively, we were locked in right from the beginning. They struggled to get looks at the basket and we were able to get out and run from their turnovers.”

   In a slow scoring first quarter against the Wildcats, the Panthers found themselves down 5-3, before a triple from Peyton Ries put them up one with 1:07 left in the opening frame. A late Monti basket gave them an 8-5 lead after one quarter.

   The Panthers edged out the Wildcats, 10-9, in the second quarter and took a 18-14 lead into halftime.

   Monti used a 9-2 scoring run to start the third quarter and, after a triple from Hermsen, took a 30-16 advantage with 2:26 left in the frame. The Panthers outscored the Wildcats 15-8 in the third to extend their lead to 11, 33-22, after three quarters.

   After a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Panthers earned a 14-point win to improve to 3-0 on the season.

   “I thought our poise in the fourth quarter was very good,” Kremer added. “We executed our offense very well, but we still need to rebound better and communicate better.”

(vs. Durant)

Monti......... 8  10  15  13     46

Durant........ 5    9    8  10     32

TEAM STATISTICS

                       Monti

FG Made-Att........... 18-47

3PT Made-Att........... 2-18

FT Made-Att.............. 8-14

Rebounds...................... 24

Assists............................. 15

Steals.............................. 18

Blocks................................ 1

Turnovers....................... 17

Fouls............................... 13

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Kylee McElmeel 14 (5-7); Kennedy Hermsen 10 (4-14); Peyton Ries 10 (4-10); Mallory McElmeel 8 (3-8); Peytin Schultz 4 (2-2)

Three-pointers (Made-Att) – Hermsen 1-9, Ries 1-3, Halle Recker 0-1, Mallory McElmeel 0-4, Kayla Arduser 0-1

Rebounds – Kylee McElmeel 7, Recker 2, Mallory McElmeel 2, Hermsen 2, Ries 2

Assists – Mallory McElmeel 4, Recker 3, Hermsen 3, Ries 3, Emma Kromminga 2

Steals – Ries 5, Mallory McElmeel 4, Recker 3, Kylee McElmeel 3, Hermsen 2, Arduser 1

Blocks – Ries 1

Regina 65, Monticello 39

   Battling Class 2A, No. 12 Regina, the Panthers dropped their first game of the season, falling 65-39 on Dec. 6.

   The Regals hot shooting started early, as they opened a 22-7 lead after one quarter. The Panther offense put up 13 second quarter points, but the Regals countered with 25 of their own and took a 47-20 lead into halftime.

   Regina extended its lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 14-4, and led 61-24 after three frames. Monti won the fourth quarter 15-4 to dip into the deficit, but the 12th-ranked Regals picked up their fourth win of the young season.

   “I thought after halftime we played with much better effort,” Kremer commented. “The first half was extremely rough because we were not playing with effort. We must bet ready to go right from the start, we can’t afford to be down 22-0 and expect to win or be competitive.”

(at Regina)

Regina...... 22  25  14    4     65

Monti......... 7  13  14    4     39

TEAM STATISTICS

                       Monti   Reg.

FG Made-Att........... 12-41  26-45

3PT Made-Att........... 6-19   5-10

FT Made-Att.............. 9-13   8-13

Rebounds...................... 18      31

Assists............................. 11      17

Steals................................. 5      10

Blocks................................ 0       4

Turnovers....................... 13       9

Fouls.................................. 9      10

MONTICELLO STATISTICS

Points (FG Made-Att) – Kennedy Hermsen 20 (7-15); Kylee McElmeel 7 (2-6); Peyton Ries 4 (1-7); Halle Recker 3 (1-7); Peytin Schultz 3 (1-3); Kayla Arduser 2 (0-1)

Three-pointers (Made-Att) – Hermsen 5-10, Recker 1-3, Ries 0-3, Reagan Stoll 0-2, Arduser 0-1

Rebounds – Recker 3, Arduser 3, Hermsen 3, Schultz 2, McElmeel 2, Ries 1, Stoll 1

Assists – Ries 5, Recker 2, McElmeel 2, Arduser 1, Schultz 1

Steals – Ries 3, McElmeel 2

RIVER VALLEY CONFERENCE

Girls Basketball Standings

        North Division

TEAM                    Conf.      Ovr.

Bellevue                    1-0        3-1

Monticello              1-1        3-1

Beckman                   0-0        2-1

Anamosa                  0-2        2-2

Maquoketa               0-0        2-2

Cascade                    0-0        1-2

Northeast                 0-0        1-2

Camanche               0-0     0-3