By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

ELYRIA – It was over from the opening tip as the Elyria girls scored an impressive, blowout victory on Friday at home over Solomon, winning by 34 points, 41-7.

The Lady Eagles put 15 points on the scoreboard in the first quarter while their defense shutout Solomon, taking a 15-0 lead into the second quarter where they held the visitors to just one point while putting 21 in the scorebook to take a commanding 35-point, 40-3, advantage into the locker room at the halftime break.

“These are sometimes tough games to be a part of and I know that we have had teams that have been on the other side of a score like this,” explained Lady Eagle head coach Greg Fields. “I was proud of our girls for coming and taking care of business to start the game. They came out focused on what they needed to do, and they executed our strategy very well. Solomon is in a rebuilding year, and I was impressed that their girls continued to fight through to the end of the game.”

While Elyria connected on 41% of their shots from the field, they held Solomon to making just 20% as the Lady Eagles recorded a blistering 15 assists on their 18 made shots from the field.

Ryland Hawkinson had another strong offensive night and led the Lady Eagles in scoring with 14 points while Kylee Penner had seven. Hawkinson also led the team in rebounds with four and Penner led Elyria is assists with four.

Coach Fields finished his reflections on the game by adding, “A lot of our starters didn’t get the minutes that they are used to, but they were excited for our younger girls getting more playing time. Ryland (Hawkinson) is continuing to improve finishing around the basket and taking care of the basketball to minimize her turnovers. Addison Swenson, who earlier had an outstanding junior varsity game, earned extra time on varsity, and did an impressive job of running the offense. Addison and her sister Alexus both hit three-pointers as well. Julia (Allen) also played really strong in the post for us tonight.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the ELYRIA LADY EAGLES?

The Lady Eagles are now 4-3 for the season and will go on the road Tuesday to tangle with Canton/Galva.

Solomon at ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

Solomon         0          1          2          4          7         

LADY EAGLES  15        21        4          1          41       

TEAM STATS:              Solomon         LADY EAGLES

Shooting                     3/15 (20%)      18/44 (41%)

3-Pointers                   0/3 (0%)          4/19 (21%)     

Free Throws                1/2 (50%)        1/4 (25%)       

Rebounds (Off/Def)    14 (4/10)         18 (10/8) 

Assists                         0                      15       

Turnovers                   18                    8         

Steals                          1                      12

Blocked Shots             0                      3         

Personal Fouls            9                      6

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (41 Total Points): Ryland Hawkinson – 14; Kylee Penner – 7; Allie Stone – 5; Macy Reiff – 4; Alexus Swenson – 3; Addison Swenson – 3; Olivia Clark – 3; Julia Allen – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (4): Allie Stone, Alexus Swenson, Addison Swenson – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Ryland Hawkinson – 4; Alexus Swenson – 3; Kylee Penner, Julia Allen, Macy Reiff, Olivia Clark – 2.

Assist Leader: Kylee Penner – 4; Olivia Clark, Alexus Swenson – 3; Macy Reiff – 2.

Leader in Steals: Allie Stone – 3; Alexus Swenson, Julia Allen, Ryland Hawkinson – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Macy Reiff – 2; Hannah Bower – 1.