GREENWAY— The Ely girls basketball team remains undefeated through the first two games of the season after edging Greenway 60-51 on Tuesday. For the second game in a row, Ely senior Erika Mattson led scoring for the Timberwolves as she poured in 24 points against the Raiders. She had help once again from fellow senior Brielle Kallberg, who added 14 points and ten rebounds for a double-double.

“This was a very tough and physical game from start to finish,” said Ely Head Coach Darren Visser. It was also close throughout, and the Wolves went into halftime trailing by three points and with three players in foul trouble. “We made some adjustments and the girls did a great job of making a defensive change from man-to-man to our zone defense,” said Visser. “Our girls were able to take away Greenway’s first half offensive success and force them to adjust while keeping ourselves from picking up fouls and allowing the girls who were in foul trouble to play most or all of the second half.”

Freshman Rachel Coughlin had a strong outing, picking up five points and 11 rebounds, while eighth-grader Grace Latourell added seven points. Senior Winter Sainio and freshman Madeline Perry added four points apiece to add to the Wolves’ broad-based scoring attack.

“We were able to play nine different players and get quality minutes from all of them,” said Visser.

Tuesday’s win came in the wake of an easier outing during the Wolves’ 58-24 season opening victory at Nashwauk on Nov. 26. “This was a good game for us as we have a lot of younger players needing to contribute to the varsity,” said Visser. “Our defense came through and made it very difficult for the Spartans to get much going on offense.”

Mattson and Kallberg combined for 41 of Ely’s points against the Spartans and Mattson added 12 rebounds for a double-double. Perry added ten points and Latourell added four.

The Timberwolves were set to host Two Harbors on Saturday, with a 2:45 p.m. start. They’ll travel to Silver Bay next Tuesday.