Jamnick, unbeaten Tower-Soudan too much for Ely girls

Playing without three starters and facing unbeaten Tower-Soudan, Ely’s high school girls basketball team had a tall order Thursday night.And the tallest of the Golden Eagles erased any hopes of a Timberwolves upset.Katie Jamnick, Tower-Soudan’s 6-1 center, dominated inside as the Golden Eagles pulled away in the second half for a 58-34 Arrowhead Conference victory.Jamnick scored 15 points, snared 14 rebounds and dominated defensively, swatting eight shots and forcing Ely to stay outside.Many of Jamnick’s rebounds and blocked shots set up fast-break baskets for the Golden Eagles, who won for the tenth time in as many games.Tower-Soudan, ranked eighth in Class A, had too much firepower for the undermanned Wolves, who continued to play without injured starters Jackie Lekatz, Kelsey Ivancich and Christa Streit.The Wolves, who pulled out a dramatic win over Chisholm two nights before, fell to 5-4 for the season.Tower-Soudan got out of the gates quickly, with Jamnick scoring inside and guards Whitney Johnson and Alex Tomsich scoring in transition.Tomsich’s three-pointer gave T-S a 17-4 lead late in the first quarter.It was 17-6 going into the second, but the Wolves cut the gap to two at 21-19 with their best flurry of the night.Ninth-grader Tomi McDonald, who led all scorers with 23 points, knocked down two long-distance bombs in the quarter and Ely erased the large early deficit.But the Golden Eagles quickly scrapped a zone defense in favor of a man-to-man setup. That stymied the Wolves and T-S built a 28-19 lead by halftime. It was all Tower-Soudan in the third. Tomsich had nine of her 15 points in the quarter, Katie Zavodnik hit a pair of mid-range jumpers and the Golden Eagles outscored Ely 21-8 in the quarter.That finished the Wolves, who never threatened again.In addition to Jamnick and Tomsich, Johnson also hit double digits with 12 points. Zavodnik was next with six.McDonald dominated the Ely scoring charts, with Candice Smrekar adding six points.The Wolves met Maranatha Academy over the weekend and go to Babbitt Thursday for a meeting with the Knights.Wolves 40, Chisholm 39Sophomore guard Barb Klun was the hero of Tuesday’s contest.Fouled while attempting a three-pointer with two seconds left, Klun calmly sank all three free throws - even after the visiting Bluestreaks called timeout to ice her - giving Ely a one-point win and capping a massive fourth-quarter rally.Ely trailed 36-24 going into the final quarter but stormed back for the win.“We never gave up,” said Ely Head Coach Judy Klun.A McDonald three-pointer got the Wolves rolling, and the pressure defense got to the Bluestreaks.Trailing 39-35 in the final minute, Ely got a key bucket from Smrekar to cut the gap to two.The Wolves got the ball back, setting up Klun’s heroics in the final seconds.Angie Mackie had four of her eight points in the last quarter and the senior center finished with a team-high 10 rebounds.Klun scored 15 points and McDonald was next with 13. Smrekar (two) and Guck (two) rounded out the scoring for Ely.Jen Pernat had 10 points for Chisholm, which was held without a field goal in the final quarter.