ELY — The Ely girls basketball team ran into two things they couldn’t overcome in Tuesday’s home game against Mesabi East – the Giants’ 6’3” center, Marta Forsline, and a lengthy second half scoring drought that squandered a halftime lead and led to a 54-44 loss.
The Giants took an early lead, but a bucket by Lydia Shultz tied the score at 9-9, and treys by Zoe Mackenzie and Ruby Lowe contributed to an 18-13 advantage. When Mesabi East closed the gap to one, it was Amelia Penke’s turn to sink a three-ball to stall the rally. While shots weren’t easy to come by against the taller Giants defense, Ely’s patience on offense paid off with a 28-23 lead at the half.
Both teams came out hot to start the second half, with a deuce and a trey by Lillie O’Neill keeping the Wolves in front by five, 33-27. But then Forsline took over for the Giants. Hitting from down low, on the break, and even from three-point range, the Giants’ center scored 11 points on five consecutive trips down the floor to flip the score and give Mesabi East a 40-33 lead.
Lydia Shultz drained a free throw and a three-ball to cut the margin to 40-37 with 10:38 remaining. The Giants went cold, but the Wolves were even colder, failing to score for nearly six minutes. When a Penke trey ended the drought at the 4:45 mark, Ely was down by six, 46-40. The Wolves kicked their defense into high gear but couldn’t muster the points for a comeback as the Giants closed out the 54-44 win.
Forsline scored more than half of the Giants’ points, tallying a game-high 30. Penke led the Wolves’ offense with 13 points, followed by Shultz with 12.

Cromwell-Wright
Ely’s first outing of the season was no cupcake. Cromwell-Wright went to the state tournament last season as the Section 7A champs, and the Cardinals showed why they’re a strong contender again this year with a 66-42 win.
The Wolves never led, as the Cardinals overwhelmed them in the early going, taking a 14-0 lead on fast breaks created by turnovers.
The Wolves clawed back to within four but didn’t have the firepower to overtake the home team, which steadily pulled away for the win.
Shultz scored 19 to lead the Wolves.
The Wolves were scheduled to host International Falls on Thursday before heading south on Saturday to the Target Center, home of the Minnesota Timberwolves, for an afternoon matchup against Chisholm.