JV Panthers return with three wins

     The holiday break didn’t slow the momentum of the Monticello High School junior varsity girls basketball team, as the Panthers scored three lopsided wins to up their record to 12-0, including 9-0 against River Valley Conference opponents.

     “This team has stepped up to every challenge, and they have matured as basketball players,” Panther coach Chuck Welsch said.

     Monticello opened the new year with a 44-21 win at Bellevue Jan. 2. Gabrielle Guilford led the Panthers in scoring with 20 points. Beka Prull added 10 points, Tori McDonald scored six, Gabrielle Steiner and DeLainy Fellinger added three apiece, and Marissa Recker scored two.

     “We ran the floor really well,” Welsch said. “Guilford got several steals that turned into points.”

     On Jan. 5, the Panthers won 52-25 at Wilton. Guilford had 15 points in that one. Also scoring were Steiner with nine, McDonald and Fellinger with seven apiece, Recker with six, Prull with four, Megan Mahoney and Dru Kramer with two each.

     At home against North Linn Jan. 6, the Panthers won 43-20. Monticello erased a 5-0 early deficit with a 21-0 run.

     “In that run we had some outstanding passes, catching the ball and finishing at the rim,” the coach said. “All the girls stepped up and had an outstanding game.”

     Steiner scored 11, Prull had nine, Guilford had eight, Emily Schlarmann had six, Recker scored six, Fellinger and McDonald had two apiece.