Strong finishes, two wins

GIRLS BASKETBALL

     Big second half performances led to two junior varsity girls basketball victories for the Monticello Panthers last week.

     The Panthers played host to Northeast of Goose Lake Jan. 13, and won 41-27, outscoring the Rebels 23-15 in the second half. Sydney Hansen and Aspen Gillmore each scored 13 points for Monticello; Gillmore was 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Gabrielle Steiner added 10 points, including a pair of three-point baskets. Jaelynn Kraus, Caitlyn Cruise and Carly Hayen scored two points each.

     “Hansen didn’t play in the first contest (against Northeast), but came up with 13 in this one. She was a big difference-maker,” Monticello coach Chuck Welsch said.

     The Jan. 14 game at West Liberty was similar. Monticello led 16-13 at halftime, but outscored the Comets 25-8 in the second half to win 41-21.

     The Panthers led at the break despite playing against mostly varsity players for West Liberty.

     “We came out and really turned things around with great defense all over the floor,” Welsch said. “Balanced scoring, and Caitlyn Cruise being a great leader on and off the court, was big in the second half.”

     Gillmore and Kraus had seven points each, Hansen and Hayen added six apiece, Lydia Franzenburg scored five (including a three-pointer), Emily Schlarmann added four, and Maria Recker, Steiner and Cruise had two apiece.

     Monticello is 10-2 against River Valley Conference teams, 11-2 overall.

 

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