By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys basketball team lost consecutive games by six points last week.
The Elks lost 87-83 Dec. 4 at Wilmot in their Southern Lakes Conference season opener and lost 62-60 Dec. 1 at home in a non-conference game against McFarland.
Elkhorn opened its 2015-16 season Nov. 24 at home with a 70-50 non-conference victory against Clinton.
The Elks (1-2, 0-1 SLC) played Milton Tuesday in a non-conference game at Milton. Elkhorn plays Dec. 10 in a SLC game at Waterford (1-3, 1-0 SLC).
“There was plenty of good in the two games,” Elks coach Josh Skatrud said. “Offensively, we have a lot of guys who can score. When we move the ball, we look pretty good.”
Skatrud said the Elks must commit to being better defensively if the team wants to win close games.
“Obviously it is frustrating to lose two games in a week, but we were only a couple possessions away from winning each of them,” Skatrud said.
The Elks fell behind early by 15 points against Wilmot, but rallied to eventually take the lead in the second half.
Wilmot (1-0, 1-0 SLC) led 51-43 at halftime. The Elks outscored the Panthers 40-36 in the second half of what Skatrud said was a fast-paced game.
“We had a possession at the end to tie, but turned the ball over, unfortunately,” Skatrud said. “We had a lot of success establishing our inside game.”
Alex Easterday led the Elks with 26 points. Dayne Fisher added 20 and Ross Ingersoll and Riley Reed each scored 10.
The Elks also succumbed to spotty play early against McFarland.
“We played poorly in the first half,” Skatrud said. “We committed to getting the ball inside in the second half and were able to get back in the game.”
The Elks outscored McFarland 40-29 in the second half after being outscored 33-20 in the first half.
“We tied it several times, but were never able to get the lead,” Skatrud said. “We executed very poorly down the stretch and still had a shot to win at the buzzer.”
Easterday and Fisher each scored 15 points to lead the Elks. Ingersoll added 13. Benjamin Rounds led McFarland (1-1) with 25 points.
Fisher led the Elks with 20 points against Clinton (1-2). Easterday added 19. The Elks led 32-26 at halftime and pulled away by outscoring Clinton 38-24 in the second half.
Skoczylas injured in loss
A team learning a new system, breaking in new players and trying to establish a culture of winning does not need additional adversity.
The Elkhorn Area High School girls basketball team got dealt a blow Dec. 1 in a non-conference game at Milton when starting guard Megan Skoczylas suffered an injury four minutes into the game.
Elks coach Todd Frohwirth said his team’s fortunes went downhill from there and Elkhorn lost 81-32.
The Elks (0-3) played Tuesday at Waterford in their Southern Lakes Conference season opener. Elkhorn plays Friday in a SLC game at Wilmot.
Milton (2-3) led 47-19 at halftime and outscored Elkhorn 34-13 in the second half.
Payton Christensen and Riley Rand – both freshmen – led the Elks with eight points each.
“Olivia May continues to be our defensive and rebounding leader, with eight on the night,” Frohwith said.
Bailee Collins scored 12 points and led three Red Hawks in double figures.
