ELY — Mesabi East’s 6’3” phenom Marta Forsline is a daunting opponent for any team to defend, and the Ely girls got a full sample of why the senior will be playing NCAA Division I basketball next season in a 72-43 road loss to the Giants last Thursday.

Forsline, who signed to play for the University of California-Davis last fall, entered the game poised to become Mesabi East’s all-time leading scorer for both boys and girls, and it didn’t take long for her to claim the record with a bucket that knotted the score at 9-9. And while she plays forward, Forsline has the speed, ball handling skills and outside shooting touch of a guard, and her full game was on display as the Giants raced to a 35-19 lead at the half. Forsline scored as many points in the period as did the entire Ely team.

But there’s no quit in the Wolves, and despite the deficit they battled hard in the second half, nearly matching the Giants’ 27 points with 24 of their own.

Lydia Shultz has been a consistent top scorer for the Wolves this season, and she led the team again with 17 points.

 

Chisholm

The Wolves returned home on Monday with the challenging task of taking on 17-3 Chisholm, with the Bluestreaks riding a six-game winning streak.

Ely got off to a slow start in this one against a lanky and tenacious Chisholm defense, falling behind 10-0 and not scoring their first bucket until Shultz got a steal and layup almost seven minutes into the game. That didn’t slow the Bluestreaks down at all, as they took a 25-2 lead before Amelia Penke hit Ely’s second bucket of the game on a putback at the 6:45 mark. That loosened the scoring shackles a bit, but not enough to make any headway as Chisholm took a 41-16 lead into the break.

As at Mesabi East, the Wolves fared better in the second half, but the 25-point differential was too large to overcome as the Wolves lost 59-46.

Penke was the Wolves’ top scorer with 18 points, followed by Lillie O’Neill with 11, and Shultz with ten.

 

The Wolves stopped their three-game skid with a solid road win at Silver Bay on Tuesday, 72-51.

Ely led 19-18 when Shultz connected on a trey from the corner to give the Wolves a four-point edge, and they would hold on to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room at the half.

The lead was still three at 43-40 when Ruby Lowe nailed a trey, and a Shultz score in the lane boosted the Ely lead to 48-41. Lowe nailed another triple to put the Wolves up by ten at 51-41, and the Wolves steadily pulled away from there for the 21-point win.

Individual scoring was not available as of press time.