Basketball Recap: Ellinwood Comes Up Short

Eagles

Previous 5 Games

01/17/25 @ Macksville	40-69
01/14/25 vs St. John	63-44
01/10/25 vs Chase	78-24
12/20/24 vs Ellis	65-55
12/17/24 @ Ell-Saline	36-66

It was a good run, but Ellinwood unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. They were outmatched by the Macksville Mustangs and fell 69-40. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest loss the Eagles have suffered against the Mustangs since January 13, 2017.

Despite the defeat, Ellinwood had strong showings from Landon Simpson, who posted 18 points and eight boards, and Luke Heinz, who had eight points. The team also got some help courtesy of Tavian Mccaffery, who earned four points.

Diego Esparza was his usual excellent self, almost dropping a double-double on 29 points and nine rebounds for Macksville. Esparza is on a roll when it comes to points, as he's now scored 15 or more in the last 18 games he's played dating back to last season. Another player making a difference was Kendall Grippin, who went 5 of 8 on his way to 14 points and eight boards.

Ellinwood's loss was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 5-4. As for Macksville, they pushed their record up to 8-2 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season.

Ellinwood will have a little extra prep time after the defeat as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Ness City at 7:00 p.m. on January 28th. Macksville has already played their next contest (against Cimarron), but no score has been uploaded at the time of writing.