Schwarz sisters lead Blossoms to a solid win over Knights
Published 9:57 pm Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Blooming Prairie’s Elaine Schwarz attacks the hoop against the defense of Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Anna Ostertag in BP Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Claire Schwarz advances the ball for the Awesome Blossoms Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Ella Salinas controls the ball for the Awesome Blossoms. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Emmerson Nelson is defended by Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Mali Quam in BP Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Catelyn Bartlett attempts a runner against Kenyon-Wanamingo. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Blooming Prairie’s Ella Smith shoots over Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Camden Nerison in BP Tuesday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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BLOOMING PRAIRIE – Blooming Prairie eighth grader Elaine Schwarz picked a good night to find her comfort zone as she helped the Awesome Blossoms beat Kenyon-Wanamingo 59-45 Tuesday.
Schwarz, a 5-foot, 11-inch center, closed the first half with a put-back score and a three-pointer to put BP up 33-25 at the break and she finished with a breakthrough performance as she tallied 16 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.
Elaine shined thanks to the guidance she has received from her older sister and teammate Claire, a 5-7 junior, who put up 12 points, three assists and four rebounds in the win.
“We have a good sisterly bond together and my friend Emmerson (Nelson) is really good. It’s fun to play with her too,” Elaine said. “I get nervous a lot, but then I kind of just chill down and have fun with the game.”
Claire said that she embraces the role of being a mentor and she’s looking forward to playing basketball with her sister for the next two years.
“It’s a lot of fun experiencing varsity basketball with (Elaine),” Claire said. “She gets a lot of put backs off of my shots and we use each other a lot on the court. I like to pep talk (Elaine and Emma) during the game. If they do something wrong, I tell them to shake it off, keep playing and stay confident.”
Junior Ella Salinas gave BP (2-1 overall) a big boost off the bench as she played with energy and finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Salinas came up with a big bucket when she scored to put BP up 45-42 late in the game.
Nelson, an eighth grader, helped ice the game when she converted back-to-back lay-ups to push that lead to 49-42.
With a lot of players playing new roles and two eighth graders in the starting lineup, BP head coach John Worke knows this will be a year of growth for the Blossoms.
“This team is continually getting better. They’re young and the thing with them is they can’t make mistakes and then dwell on them,” Worke said. “They all made mistakes tonight and they all struggled at times, but they also all did good things at crucial times. We can build on that confidence. I think we got better tonight.”
The Knights (1-2 overall) were able to hang around for much of the night as BP never led by double digits until the late minutes. KW scored the first five points of the game, but BP eventually went up 9-8 on a three by Nelson and the Blossoms never trailed again.
KW 25 20 – 45
BP 33 26 – 59
BP scoring: Elaine Schwarz, 16; Claire Schwarz, 12; Ella Salinas, 10; Catelyn Bartlett, 6; Ella Smith, 4; Gracelyn Anderson, 2
