CHS girls breeze past Ellendale, Barnes Co. North

Defense, defense and more defense proved more than enough for the Carrington Cardinals to maintain their District 5 leadership in two games covering last week’s period.

The Cards held both Ellendale and Barnes County North under 20 points, with CHS taking a 54-13 road win on January 6 over the former and 68-16 in the East Gym over the latter last Monday night, January 10.

Said Coach Andy Braaten of the two games, “We were able to press [Ellendale] into many turnovers and convert some layups. Against BCN, it was nice to get back on our home court for the first time since November, and we turned steals into points there, too.”

Junior forward Haley Wolsky would end up outscoring both the southern Cardinals and Lady Bison by herself in the two-game swing. She finished with 19 points at Ellendale, and 20 more points led another balanced attack against BCN.

Sydnie Grager had nine points in both games, and Edyn Hoornaert’s contributions went beyond the scorebook with team-high showings of nine rebounds and four assists and seven and six in the same category in those respective contests.

“Our offensive patience, shot selection and shooting percentage need some work, but overall, we had some nice efforts throughout the lineup,” Braaten said.

With just four points, Olivia Hagen was the top scorer for Ellendale. In the matchup against Barnes County North, the Lady Bison’s offense leader was Ashley Weiss, who finished with five points.

Down the stretch, the Cards (3-0, 7-3 overall) will have to dig deep to pull out wins with a diminished bench. Carrington lost two players to season-ending knee injuries in the same calendar week, with Allison Jarrett and Mya Schroeder going down in consecutive games to severely hamper the team’s guard depth.

Starting this past Thursday night, CHS went through a six-game gauntlet of statewide and District 5 powers, the results of which could tell much about the Cards’ postseason prospects.

In succession, Braaten’s team started out with games opposite #3 Central Cass (January 13) and #9 Thompson (January 15). They will also take on district co-leader Oakes on Thursday, #4 Rugby Saturday, and the following week’s schedule finishes out with LaMoure/Litchville-Marion and eighth-ranked E-K-M for key conference battles.

District 5 Girls’ Basketball

Carrington 54, Ellendale 13

at Ellendale

Cgtn. 13 17 18 6 54

Ellendale 5 4 4 0 13

Carrington: Haley Wolsky 19, Sydnie Grager 9, Emma Rindy 6, Olivia Threadgold 5, Emma Hone 4, Madison Johnson 4, Edyn Hoornaert 3, Kacie Rexin 2, Isabel Wendel 2. Totals: 19 FG, 11-18 FT, 10 fouls. Three-pointers: Rindy, Threadgold, Johnson.

Ellendale: Olivia Hagen 4, Kali Norton 3, Destiny Broome 2, Ariel Hagen 2, Mackenzie Thorpe 2. Totals: 6 FG, 1-5 FT, 13 fouls. Three-pointers: None. Fouled out: Christena Walker.

Carrington Additional Stats

Rebounds: Hoornaert 9, Grager 7, Hone, Rindy and Wendel 3, Johnson, Threadgold and Kaydence VanRay 1.

Assists: Hoornaert 4, Rindy, Wendel and Wolsky 2, Threadgold 1.

Steals: Wolsky 5, Hoornaert 4, Wendel 3, Rindy 2, Hone, Johnson and Rexin 1.

Blocks: Grager 2.

Carrington 68, Barnes Co. North 16

at Carrington

BCN 6 5 4 1 16

Cgtn. 19 26 11 12 68

Carrington: Wolsky 20, Grager 9, Johnson 7, Rindy 7, Brynn Smith 6, Threadgold 5, Wendel 5, Hone 4, Hoornaert 3, VanRay 2. Totals: 27 FG, 9-17 FT, 9 fouls. Three-pointers: Johnson, Rindy, Smith, Threadgold, Wendel.

Barnes Co. North: No statistics available.

Carrington Additional Stats

Rebounds: Hoornaert 7, Johnson 5, Grager, Hone, Rindy, VanRay and Wendel 2, Rexin 1.

Assists: Hoornaert 6, Rindy 5, Wendel 3, Grager, Rexin and Threadgold 2, Hone, Johnson, Smith and Wolsky 1.

Steals: Rindy and Wendel 5, Johnson 4, Hoornaert 3, Grager, Hone and Threadgold 2, Rexin, Smith and Wolsky 1.