Ely named Montrose ‘Athlete of Week’

DALLAS ELY

BY MEGHAN SPELLMAN

The Montrose Lady Meteors basketball season has been marked with many accomplishments this year. From winning their league, to having a 17 game win streak, they have had many successes this season.

A big reason for their success has come from junior Dallas Ely. Ely has been putting in the time and effort this whole season, according to Coach Al Smith, and therefore she has been named Athlete of the Week.

Ely, daughter of Bud and Connie Ely, has had a great season this year. Her favorite game was against Holy Cross, which was earlier in the season on Dec.18. The Lady Meteors beat Holy Cross 59-42. But, another game also comes to mind to Ely as a milestone of this season. On Jan. 28, she reached her 1,000 career point against Elk Lake.

“It felt really good to accomplish that in my junior year,” Ely said.

The Lady Meteors finished the regular season at 19-2 with losses to Forest City and Scranton Prep.  They were able to avenge their loss to Forest City, however, on Feb. 17 when they defeated the Lady Foresters to win the Lackawanna League Division III title by a score of 49-47. With the game tied at 43 at the end of regulation, the game went into overtime.  With 47 seconds remaining in overtime, Ely scored the winning basket.

The Lady Meteors won the first round of District II AA playoffs against Hanover on Feb. 25. Ely was the leading scorer with 25 points of the team’s 66. She also had four assists and four steals to finish the game. In the second round of playoffs, the Lady Meteors suffered a loss to Lake Lehman on March 1. Ely had 19 points, and started a rally in the fourth quarter with back to back three pointers when the team had a 13 point comeback, but the Knights managed to pull out with a win.

Ely has been playing basketball since she was a 2nd grader and has been a three-year varsity starter.

“As a guard, Dallas is the floor-leader and a team player,” Coach Smith said.

Being only a junior, Ely is not positive on what her basketball-related future holds. But, according to Ely, she plans to play basketball, probably Div. 1.

“I want to continue to play basketball for as long as I can,” Ely said.

The Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Doug and Cindy Lattner of the Montrose McDonalds.