Ellington presses past Lady Camels in sectional

Campbell's Morgan McCormick (22) shoots over an Ellington defender during the first half of Wednesday's Class 2 sectional at the Bess Activity Center in Poplar Bluff. [Click to enlarge]

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Daren Ellsworth knew that his Campbell Lady Camels would have to be able to handle Ellington's defensive pressure to have any chance of winning Wednesday's Class 2 sectional contest.

He was right.

The Lady Whippets forced 18 turnovers with their press and kept Campbell's offense out of sync all night to take a 59-34 sectional victory here at the Bess Activity Center Wednesday.

"It was definitely the pressure," Ellsworth said. "We knew that coming in. If we could get through it, (we could) handle it and get our offense going (but) we never seemed to be able to get that rhythm.

"We had a point there in the second quarter where we kind of got things going, got it back within nine...and that pressure got us again -- a couple of turnovers and they were back up to double digits again."

Said Ellington coach Paula King: "It was a big key. We know if we play defense then the key will be turnovers."

The Lady Whippets (19-10) dominated from wire-to-wire Wednesday, scoring the first 11 points of the game and not letting up from there.

Dani Nelson's basket 10 seconds into the second quarter made it a 15-6 game, but the Lady Camels' senior center picked up her third foul with just under seven minutes left in the half.

Foul trouble was a major problem for Campbell Wednesday, as three of its starters -- Nelson, Shana Bader and Chelsea Bledsoe -- picked up three fouls in the opening half as Ellington took a 31-15 lead to the break.

"You would like to think the game in sectionals (we) would be allowed to play a little better, let the girls kind of decide what was going on," Ellsworth said. "It seemed like we got the bad side of the deal most of that."

Bader's basket to open the third quarter made it a 14-point game, but five points from Megan Santhuff keyed a 7-0 spurt by Ellington pushed the lead to 38-17 and the game was effectively over after that.

Santhuff came up big Wednesday, scoring 19 of her game-high 27 points in the second half to ice the game for the Lady Whippets.

"She's really come to play these last few games," King said. "She is staying focused and really doesn't want the season to end."

Rachel Roberts added 21 points for Ellington, who will take on Clopton Saturday in sectional play at Farmington.

"I'm feeling great," King said. "But I am just proud of the kids. They've worked so hard this year."

Bader led the Lady Camels (16-7) with 10 points, while Brittany Grindstaff added eight and Nelson finished with seven.

Despite Wednesday's loss, Ellsworth has a positive outlook on his team's season.

"I was just telling the girls in the locker room, 'Nobody likes to lose -- especially like this tonight in the sectional game, but we have nothing to be ashamed of,'" Ellsworth said. "They worked hard all year. Our main goal was to get that district at the beginning of the year. We got that, so they've had a tremendous season."

Notes: Despite committing 18 turnovers, Campbell finished with 17 steals Wednesday -- five by Bader and three by Nelson. ... The Lady Camels finished with 28 rebounds Wednesday, eight by Nelson and seven by Bader.