Marshall buries 18 ‘threes’ and brings end to girls’ streak
Photos by Ken Hupila.
by Tom Coombe
The Ely Timberwolves were all but buried under an avalanche of three-point baskets.
Led by eighth-grader Chloe Johnson, the Hilltoppers unleashed a blizzard of long-range bombs Tuesday at the high school gymnasium, sinking a whopping 18 three-pointers in an 89-68 high school girls basketball victory.
Johnson scored 32 points and dialed long-distance five times as the Class AA Hilltoppers easily shot better than 50 percent from long range while ending Ely’s six-game winning streak.
The Timberwolves competed well after falling behind by 16 points in the opening six minutes, but the mountain proved to be too steep.
Ely fell to 11-4 for the season.
Johnson had 19 of her points in the first half, but she was just part of a potent Duluth Marshall attack.
Junior forward Regan Jeunemann added 25 points and sank five triples of her own.
Ada Skafte, a 5-9 senior, added 14 points with the help of four triples and sophomore Anna Saari also connected from long range three times.
Add it all up and the Wolves couldn’t contain the high-powered visitors.
LaTourell knocked down three triples of her own and scored a team-high 17 points, but her streak of six games-plus with 20 or more points came to an end.
The Wolves were able to break down the Duluth Marshall defense at times, but the Hilltoppers’ style favored a track meet.
Ninth-grader Amelia Penke came off the bench to score 15 points for the Wolves to go with six rebounds.
Senior Sarah Visser added nine points, 10 rebounds and six assists, while Maija Mattson and Zoe MacKenzie notched eight points each.
The game was Ely’s first in a week as a Jan. 11 date at Two Harbors was scrapped because of a snowstorm that closed schools along the North Shore.
Ely was at International Falls Thursday and has a key Section 7A seeding contest Monday, when Bigfork comes to town.
