Three games, one win for MHS

     Monticello came out of the holiday break with a three-game week to open the new year, splitting a pair of River Valley Conference games and losing a non-conference battle at North Linn.

     The Panthers (6-3, 7-4) opened the week with a 58-47 home loss against Bellevue Tuesday, Jan. 3.

     Bellevue was helped by the contribution of Giana Michels, who missed the first meeting between these teams with an injury, but on Tuesday scored 15 points.

     “She did help them, but that was a small factor,” Monticello coach Donnie Kremer said. “Bellevue shot very well, and we had a lot of breakdowns that led to easy buckets for them.”

     The Panthers played from behind for most of the game. Bellevue led 19-12 after one quarter, and 31-28 at halftime.

     Monticello went on an 8-0 run from the late third quarter until the Panthers tied the score 43-43 with 5:12 to play.

     After Bellevue regained the lead, the Panthers came back with two free throws by Taylor McDonald and a layup by Lauren Ries to gain a 47-46 lead with 3:46 to play.

     “I thought we finally played with a fire and attitude,” Kremer said. “During that stretch we did not have the defensive breakdowns that were occurring earlier. Plus our pressure started to get to them.”

     Monticello didn’t score again, however, and Bellevue scored the last 12 points, making 10 of 11 free throws during that stretch.

     “We did not execute very well down the stretch,” the coach said. “We missed too many easy looks and failed to block out. We have to do a better job.”

     Ries led the Panthers with 18 points. Maddie Lambert had 11 points, and McDonald added 10. Ries had four steals; McDonald made three assists.

     Things went better for the Panthers in a 58-40 home win over Wilton Jan. 6, in another RVC game.

     But not at first. Wilton jumped out to an 8-2 lead, and still held a 10-6 edge at the end of the first quarter.

     “I am not really sure why we start so slow,” Kremer said. “That is something we have to change.”

     It did change in the second quarter, when the Panthers outscored the Beavers 22-7 to take an 11-point halftime lead, 28-17.

     “We got things turned around by pushing the ball up the floor and creating turnovers in our press,” the coach said.

     Monticello opened the lead to 16 by the end of the third quarter, and was in command the rest of the way.

     Ries scored 21 points and McDonald added 16 for the Panthers.

     “I thought both of them shot really well,” Kremer said. “They did not force any shots, and let the game come to them. They created easy opportunities to score off of the press and in transition.

     “I thought Jacqueline Petersen and Maddie Fellinger came off the bench to give us some very good minutes.”

     Rylee Warthen added 10 points for Monticello. Maddie Lambert had six points and a team-high eight rebounds. McDonald made seven assists.

     The Panthers then traveled to Troy Mills to face unbeaten North Linn, which was ranked seventh in Class 2A. The Lynx took charge in the first half, leading 29-16 at halftime, and went on to beat Monticello 63-42.

     “We wanted to attack them, have hands in the shooters’ faces and keep them off the glass,” Kremer said. “We did a pretty good shot on their shooters, but our rebounding was not good at all.

     “They did a nice job of crashing the boards and getting plenty of second chance points. Plus they hit their free throws down the stretch.”

     Ries had a double-double for Monticello, with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Fellinger came off the bench to score seven points, and Jordan Kuper, also off the bench, had five points and nine rebounds. McDonald made six assists and four steals.

     The Panthers had an off-day Jan. 10, and will play two games this weekend: Jan. 13 at home against Northeast and Jan. 14 at West Liberty.

     “I feel pretty good; we had a tough week following break,” Kremer concluded. “We just have to get back to work and get better. There is a lot of basketball yet to be played.”

Jan. 3

Bel.      19 12 12  15 – 58

Monti   12 16  10   9 – 47

     BELLEVUE (58) – Kailey Miller 0-1 2-2 2, Camryn Reeg 4-21 5-6 16, Rebecca Schroeder 3-7 4-5 10, Giana Michels 6-10 1-2 15, Emma Kelchen 6-9 1-1 13, Lindsey Banowetz 1-2 0-0 2, Kylee Biederman 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzi Till 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 13-16 58.

     MONTICELLO (47) – Taylor McDonald 3-7 4-4 10, Shay Stephen 1-3 0-0 2, Lauren Ries 7-11 1-3 18, Maddie Lambert 3-9 3-3 11, Rylee Warthen 0-2 1-2 1, Maddie Fellinger 1-3 0-0 3, Jacqueline Petersen 1-3 0-2 2, Jordan Kuper 0-5 0-2 0, Carly Hayen 0-0 0-0 0, Savanah Kremer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 9-16 47.

     Three-pointers: Reeg 3, Michels 2; Ries 3, Lambert 2, Fellinger.

     Rebounds: Bellevue 33, Monticello 20 (M. Lambert 4, Warthen 4, Petersen 3).

     Total fouls: Monticello 19, Bellevue 14.

Jan. 6

Wilton  10   7  12 11 – 40

Monti     6  22 17 13 – 58

     WILTON (40) – Kaylee Ford 2-7 0-0 4, Kortney Drake 4-7 4-9 12, Hannah Christensen 2-4 0-0 4, Emily Lange 3-9 1-2 7, Aubrey Putman 0-6 0-1 0, Falloyn Grunder 3-8 0-0 7, Lexi Maurer 2-5 2-2 6, Taylor Golderman 0-0 0-2 0, Linsey Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Kali Milder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-46 7-16 40.

     MONTICELLO (58) – Taylor McDonald 6-12 3-5 16, Shay Stephen 0-2 0-2 0, Lauren Ries 9-13 1-2 21, Rylee Warthen 5-7 0-2 10, Maddie Lambert 2-5 1-2 6, Jordan Kuper 1-3 1-2 3, Maddie Fellinger 1-3 0-0 2, Jacqueline Petersen 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlyn Cruise 0-0 0-0 0, Carly Hayen 0-1 0-0 0, Rileigh Lambert 0-1 0-0 0, Savanah Kremer 0-1 0-0 0, Meredith Melchert 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Loes 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Holub 0-0 0-0 0, Samantha Fritz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 6-15 58.

     Three-pointers: Grunder; Ries 2, McDonald, M. Lambert.

     Rebounds: Monticello 29 (M. Lambert 8, Ries 7), Wilton 24.

     Total fouls: Monticello 16, Wilton 15.

Jan. 7

Monti       6  10   8  18 – 42

N. Linn   12 17  14  20 – 63

     MONTICELLO (42) – Taylor McDonald 2-7 1-2 6, Shay Stephen 1-6 0-0 3, Lauren Ries 5-15 5-8 19, Maddie Lambert 0-1 2-2 2, Rylee Warthen 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Fellinger 2-2 2-2 7, Jordan Kuper 2-11 1-4 5, Jacqueline Petersen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-44 11-18 42.

     NORTH LINN (63) – Grace Flanagan 2-10 4-4 9, Abby Flanagan 2-6 6-6 12, Anna LeGrand 2-5 8-8 12, Ashley Tull 7-9 2-2 16, Emma Ware 2-5 0-1 4, Sydney Burke 2-3 1-2 6, Kylie Kurt 1-6 0-0 3, Hannah Bridgewater 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 18-45 22-25 63.

     Three-pointers: Ries 4, McDonald, Stephen, Fellinger; A. Flanagan 2, G. Flanagan, Kurt, Burke.

     Rebounds: North Linn 36, Monticello 29 (Ries 10, Kuper 9).

     Total fouls: North Linn 16, Monticello 15.