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

CANTON – It was over quickly, or so it seemed to some as the Elyria Christian girls jumped ahead early and never looked back in their 18-point, 37-19, victory on the road at Canton/Galva on Tuesday.

Elyria took an early nine-point, 11-2 lead by the end of the first quarter and turned it into a 15-point, 21-6 advantage by the halftime break before outscoring the short-handed Canton/Galva girls 16-13 in the final two quarters to get the final 18-point win.

It was not the prettiest game as neither team shot well from the field with Elyria hitting but 30% of their shots while Canton/Galva connected on just 26%. Canton/Galva was plagued all night with ball handling issues as they turned the ball over 27 times.

“It was good to get a win on a very poor shooting night,” explained Elyria head coach Greg Fields. “A lot of credit goes to the play of the Canton/Galva defense, especially in the second half. They are definitely a much-improved team from when we watched them at the Goessel Tournament before the holidays. They played with a lot of energy and didn’t give up many easy looks.”

Leading the way for Elyria was Kylee Penner and Ryland Hawkinson who each reached double digits in the scorebook with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Penner and Hawkinson also lead the team with work in the paint as Penner grabbed a team leading eight rebounds and Hawkinson pulled down five.

Elyria recorded 21 steals with Hawkinson, Penner, and Alexus Swenson each swiping four and Julia Allen taking away three.

Coach Fields concluded his post-game reflections on the Elyria performance by saying, “Kylee (Penner) really had a strong game for us as she was continually active defensively with four steals and ten deflections. Ryland (Hawkinson) had another solid game tonight as well as she has been very consistent for us this season and is shooting around 50% every game. I was glad to see KiLynn Starburg have a nice game, we tried to play her limited minutes as she missed all of last weeks games due to illness.”

As for the home Canton/Galva girls, they only had two players score points with Mimi Craig putting 14 of the teams 19 points in the scorebook while Brecken Pearson had the other five.

Craig recorded a double in the game as she also pulled down 11 rebounds with Lili Espinoza grabbing nine.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ELYRIA CHRISTIAN and CANTON/GALVA?

The Elyria Christian Lady Eagles move to 5-3 for the season with the victory as they prepare for homecoming on Friday when they play host to Centre.

After getting their first win of the season last Friday, the Canton/Galva Lady Eagles now drop their second game in two days and fall to just 1-8 for the season with an upcoming road trip to Goessel later this week on Friday.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES at CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES

SCORING:                    1          2          3          4          FINAL

ELYRIA                         11        10        5          11        37       

CANTON/GALVA         2          4          7          6          19

TEAM STATS:             

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES = FG 13/44 (30%); 3-PTR 3/15 (20%); FT 8/11 (73%); AST 9; RBS 26; TO 14; STLS 21; BLKS 0; PF 11.

CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES = FG 8/31 (26%); 3-PTR 1/15 (7%); FT 2/6 (33%); AST 5; RBS 31; TO 27; STLS 7; BLKS 2; PR 12.

ELYRIA CHRISTIAN LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (37 Total Points): Kylee Penner – 14; Ryland Hawkinson – 12; KiLynn Starburg – 5; Alexus Swenson – 3; Allie Stone – 3.

3-Pointers Made (3): Kylee Penner, KiLynn Starburg, Allie Stone – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Kylee Penner – 8; Ryland Hawkinson – 5; Julia Allen – 4; Allie Stone – 3.

Assists Leader: Kylee Penner, Macy Reiff, Allie Stone – 2.

Leader in Steals: Ryland Hawkinson, Alexus Swenson, Kylee Penner – 4; Julia Allen – 3; Allie Stone, KiLynn Starburg – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: None         

            

CANTON/GALVA LADY EAGLES INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (19 Total Points): Mimi Craig – 14; Brecken Pearson – 5.

Three-Pointers Made (1): Brecken Pearson – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Mimi Craig – 11; Lili Espinoza – 9; Red Craig – 3; Brecken Pearson, Sage Toews – 2.

Assist Leader: Lili Espinoza, Sage Toews – 2.

Leader in Steals: Brecken Pearson – 3; Lili Espinoza – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Mimi Craig, Sage Toews – 1.