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A strong second half lifted Ely’s high school girls basketball team to its biggest win of the season.
The Timberwolves came out firing after halftime, turning a four-point deficit into a double-digit lead, and they pulled away for a 70-54 Monday night home victory over Chisholm, Not only did Ely end a three-game losing streak and bounce back after falling in five of its last seven contests, but it avenged a December defeat to the Bluestreaks as well.
Sophomore Audrey Kallberg scored a team-high 18 points and hauled down 19 for the Wolves, who trailed 34-30 at halftime.
Ely pressured the Bluestreaks into more than 20 turnovers, with senior Clare Thomas coming up with seven steals to go with her 12 points.
Sophomore Lydia Shultz also hit double digits with 13 points and another sophomore - Ameila Penke - recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The Wolves showed off considerable depth, with senior Maija Mattson adding eight points and six rebounds and junior Zoe MacKenzie notching seven points.
Ely had lost 63-50 to Chisholm in mid-December, and the win provided some momentum as the regular season reaches its home stretch.
The Wolves are 12-8 and ranked sixth in 7A, and coming off a stretch that included losses to the top-ranked defending champion Mt. Iron-Buhl, as well as top-four Bigfork and Floodwood.
Home games are part of the closing flurry with Ely slated to host Deer River (Tuesday), Littlefork-Big Falls (Thursday) and South Ridge (Friday) to wind things down.
Section 7A playoff action begins the following week and the Wolves are in line to host on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
• Mesabi East completed a regular season sweep of the Wolves with its 58-40 victory on Feb. 6.
Ely struggled from the outside, shooting just four-for-23 from threepoint distance and just 29 percent overall.
Shultz had 11 points, six steals and three assists for the Wolves with Penke and MacKenzie next with eight points each.
Kallberg added five points and four steals while Gretta Lowe contributed four points.
