ELLIS- It was a special Saturday edition of the Area Game of the Week that took place in Ellis, as the hometown Railroaders took on the Hill City Ringnecks. This was a make up game from January 17th.
The afternoon's games began with a 6-6 Ellis girls team taking on a Hill City squad that was searching for their first win of the season.
The first quarter was a regular back-and-forth battle and things were knotted at 9 after a quarter. The second quarter was more of the same, but Hill City was able to build a small 20-17 lead by the half.
The Ringnecks came out of the break on fire, scoring the first 10 points for a 30-17 lead. The lead would balloon to as much as 14 before the quarter ended with the score 40-29 in favor of Hill City.
Ellis cut the lead to as little as 6 in the final period, but Hill City was able to ride out the storm en-route to a 54-40 win. The Ringnecks had captured their first win of the season!
Junior Allisa Keith led the charge for Hill City with 22 points and 4 rebounds. Junior Breckan Born had 17 points to go with a game-high 8 rebounds. Junior Grace Eck and senior Rylee Werth both had 11 points for Ellis.
The Ringnecks move to 1-10 on the year. Ellis fell to 6-7.
The boys game was next on the docket. The Ringnecks came into the game looking to end a 4 game losing streak. Ellis was trying to reach double digit wins on the season.
Hill City came out strong, scoring the first 4 points and holding Ellis scoreless for nearly the first 4 minutes of the game. However, Ellis closed the quarter on an 11-0 run. The second quarter was competitive, allowing Ellis to slightly extend their lead to 23-14 by the break. Junior Brady Frickey had 14 of Ellis's 23 points at the half.
The Ringknecks put up their best fight in the second half, but the will of Frickey and the Railroaders was just to much. Ellis led by as much as 20 and held the lead for a 56-42 final.
Frickey had a monster night, finishing with 29 points. Senior Dalen Journigan had 9 points and 5 boards for Hill City. Fellow senior Jacob Lindenman also had 9 points.
Ellis reaches double digit wins, as they are now 10-3 on the year. Ellis hosts Quinter on Tuesday.
Hill City falls to 5-7. They'll try to put an end to a 5 game losing streak on Tuesday when they travel to Ness City.