Elmwood girls hoops starts strong
Elmwood girls hoops starts strong
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
ELMWOOD – With four starters graduated and two players after sitting out last season, it would have made natural if Elmwood’s girls basketball team took time to find its stride.
Instead, Elmwood has gelled quickly and ran its record to 4-1 with Monday’s 55-36 home win over Midwest Central.
Sophomore Mae Herman scored 11 of her team-high 21 points in the first quarter as Elmwood avenged its lone loss of the season. The Trojans led 13-7 after one quarter, avoiding the slow start that had led to a loss to MC seven days earlier.
Guard Melody Glenn had five treys for her 15 points and post player Liv Meyers tallied 10 as Elmwood had its inside-outside game working. Herman also had six assists for Elmwood.
“I forget sometimes that we lost four starters from last year so these guys are all kind of getting moved into those starting roles. And then Melody and Lexi [Lehman] were not there last year,” Elmwood Coach Gregg Meyers said. “It’s been so seamless that I forget how much of a transition it has been. We’ve had three different leading scorers so far and it’s going pretty good.”
Prior to Monday’s win, Elmwood took two straight at the Brimfield Turkey Tournament, downing Tremont (41-25) on Nov. 27 and Kewanee (51-22) on Nov. 23.
“It was nice to play Kewanee and Tremont, teams we never get to play normally,” Coach Meyers said. “And Tremont was closer than the final score. It was a 10- to 12-point game the whole second half and we made a couple of baskets there at the end.”
Glenn had three 3-pointers against Tremont to lead with 11 points, Herman added 10 and Meyers tallied 8 for Elmwood.
Against Kewanee, Herman scored 16, Meyers put up 14 and Glenn had 9 as Elmwood led 17-6 after one quarter and 30-8 at halftime.
“We played pretty well and got off to a quick start, so that went pretty well,” Coach Meyers said. “We got a lot of people playing time, so that was good all around.”
Elmwood is back in action today at Oneida against ROWVA-Williamsfield.
Brimfield
Brimfield improved to 6-0 with another easy win, this time topping Peoria Heights/Quest, 59-22, as Ella Lune scored 24 points and Elly Doe added 13.
On Saturday in its final game of the Turkey Tournament, Brimfield topped Midwest Central, 66-20, and put four players in double figures: Lune (15), Doe (12), Elynn Peterson (10) and Jaclyn Fabry (10). That clinched a tourney title for the Lady Indians.
While lopsided wins mean everyone gets to play, Coach Maribeth Dura said her team “is getting a little antsy.”
Then too, Dura said free-throw shooting has not been very good and rebounding has been less than desired at times.
“So in our huddles, I still have to remind them to play hard,” Dura said. “But overall I’m happy where we are now. We’re trying to put some new defenses in and we tried them against Midwest Central and did pretty well. We hadn’t practiced them in awhile, so I was happy with that.”
Brimfield cancelled a game with South Fulton scheduled for Wednesday and Dura hopes to reschedule a larger school.
The Lady Indians are home vs. Annawan tonight.
Farmington
The Lady Farmers (3-2) posted two straight wins, including Monday’s 45-33 home win over ROWVA-Williamsfield.
Reece Putrich led Farmington with 15 points, Anna Webel added 12 and Riley Jansen chipped in 6 and, according to Coach Brad Whitcomb, “Her effort on the defensive end and her aggressiveness on the offensive end got her teammates easy baskets.”
On Nov. 22, Farmington topped IVC 53-46 as Putrich led with 17 points and Emma Evans added 15 and 6 assists.
“Emma has done a great job for us so far this season as she’s embraced guarding the other team’s best player and facilitating our offense as the point guard,” Whitcomb said. “She’s done a tremendous job finding the right balance between getting her teammates going and looking for opportunities herself.”
Farmington returns to action tonight at home against Olympia.
Princeville
The Lady Princes are off until at least Dec. 7 while the school is on remote learning due to an increase in COVID cases.
