Stokes stokes No. 1 ELC’s win over North Union hoopsters

ARMSTRONG -- Haylee Stokes entered Monday night's basketball game against North Union with a 22.3-point scoring average, but there's much more to the Estherville-Lincoln Central sophomore guard's game.

Haylee Stokes produced game-highs of 23 points, eight assists and eight steals to go with eight rebounds, while older sibling Jordyn Stokes hit four 3-pointers en route to 16 points to steer the defending Iowa Class 3A state champion and No. 1-ranked Midgets to a 58-33 win over the North Union Warriors in Armstrong.

The Warriors stayed within striking distance of the Midgets during the early stages of the first quarter. After Haylee Stokes doled out back-to-back assists to Jordyn Stokes for a trey and Rylee Yager for a low-post lay-in, respectively, for a 5-0 lead, Olivia Merrill countered for North Union by hitting a putback for two of her eight points on the game.

Naomi Jones, who topped the Warriors with 14 points and seven rebounds, then displayed her state track speed by breaking downcourt on the heels of ELC's next miss. Olivia Von Bank cleared the glass and fired a perfect outlet pass nearly the length of the court to Jones for a layup to narrow North Union's gap to 5-4.

Jordyn Stokes then heated up the nylon nets, reeling off seven consecutive points to help ELC close out the initial quarter with a 13-4 lead.

Von Bank's runner in traffic and Libby Stevens' 12-footer in the lane to open the second quarter drew the Warriors within 15-8, but the final 5 minutes of the opening half belonged to Haylee Stokes and the Midgets.

Haylee Stokes drilled her only 3-pointer to trigger ELC's ensuing 16-2 offensive surge to storm into halftime with a 31-10 lead.

Haylee Stokes doled out two assists, pocketed two thefts and scored nine points during the span before intermission, including a gliding left-handed runner with just 4 seconds left.

It was more Haylee Stokes as the sophomore guard poured in half of ELC's 16 third-quarter points before Stevens, Emily Meyer and Jones combined for six points during the final 3 minutes to make it 47-20.

Naomi Jones tallied eight of the Warriors' 13 fourth-quarter points, including the final six of regulation, to help whittle the final margin to 25.

Merrill produced eight points, six rebounds and a game-leading five blocked shots for the Warriors, while Stevens generated six points and a team-best six steals.

Yager neared double-double territory for ELC by collecting 14 points and grabbing a game-best nine rebounds to complement garnering four steals.

North Union (2-1) plays host to Forest City tonight in Armstrong, while Estherville-Lincoln Central (4-0) plays host to Jackson County Central on Friday night in Estherville, Iowa.

ELC 13 18 16 11 -- 58

NU 4 6 10 13 -- 33

NORTH UNION (33)

Von Bank 1-9 0-2 2, Meyer 1-5 1-2 3, Merrill 3-6 2-4 8, N. Jones 6-11 2-2 14, Stevens 3-8 0-0 6, Fraker 0-0 0-0 0, Steinberger 0-1 0-0 0, Oleson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 5-10 33.

ELC (58)

Christoffer 0-1 1-6 1, J. Stokes 6-16 0-0 16, Yager 7-9 0-0 14, Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, H. Stokes 11-21 0-2 23, Ruschy 0-6 2-2 2, Dunlavy 0-3 0-0 0, Schiltz 0-0 0-2 0, DeRuyter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 3-12 58.

3-pointers: ELC 5-14 (J. Stokes 4, H. Stokes 1); North Union 0-10. Rebounds: ELC 30 (Yager 9, H. Stokes 8); North Union 20 (N. Jones 7, Merrill 6). Assists: ELC 10 (H. Stokes 8); North Union 5. Steals: ELC 19 (H. Stokes 8, Yager 4); North Union 13 (Stevens 6, N. Jones 3). Blocked shots: North Union 5 (Merrill 5).

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Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 47, Cleveland 41 -- Olivia Mattson neared double-double territory to sail the Jaguars to a six-point Valley Conference victory over the Clippers on Monday night in Northrop.

Mattson scored 16 points, garnered eight rebounds and blocked a game-best six shots to top the Jaguars, while McKenna Benck contributed 13 points, seven boards and three assists to the win.

Bethany Petrowiak collected six points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Jaguars, while Keira Benck chipped in seven boards and three assists.

The Jaguars (1-1) host Martin County West next Tuesday night in Northrop.

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Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 65, Martin County West 26 -- Olivia Harazin drilled three trifectas to fuel a 27-point performance, while teammate Lauren Cooper added three treys and 19 points to guide the Knights by the Mavericks during Valley Conference action Monday night in Lake Crystal.

Katelin Flack tossed in 13 points for LCWM, which led 46-12 at halftime and never trailed for the duration.

Ella Carlson tossed in 13 points to top MCW, while teammate Thea Anderson added four points.

Martin County West (1-1) plays host to Jackson County Central on Thursday night in Trimont. LCWM (2-0) hits the road to Madelia on Friday night.

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Boys Basketball

Jackson County Central 66, Martin County West 59 -- Roman Voss netted 19 points to pace a balanced offensive attack as the Huskies fended off the Mavericks by seven during non-league action Monday night in Jackson.

Erik Hesebek scored 18 points for JCC, while Travis Rogotzke chipped in 17 points.

Mitchell Weber tossed in a game-best 20 points, hauled in five boards and doled out five assists to top MCW's effort.

Zach Anderson scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Mavericks, Hunter Schmidt connected on four 3-pointers for 12 more points, while Jamesson Forsberg chipped in eight points and five steals.

Martin County West (1-2) travels to Blue Earth Area on Thursday night.

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ELC 54, North Union 36 -- Owen Larson tallied a game-best 25 points to engineer the Midgets' 18-point triumph over the Warriors on Monday night in Armstrong.

Aiden Lofstrom and Kody Irmiter each produced eight points and six rebounds for North Union, while Kyan Jones contributed seven points and four steals.

Logan Odegaard added five points and eight rebounds for the Warriors (2-1), who play host to Forest City tonight in Armstrong.