By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

The Monarchs hope Ellinwood is a cure for what ails them.

The Thomas More Prep-Marian boys' and girls' basketball teams travel to Ellinwood on Tuesday in MCAA action. The girls' game starts at 6:15 p.m., followed by the boys.

TMP swept Ellinwood in the schools' first meeting in Hays on Dec. 16. The Monarch girls rolled past Ellinwood 68-22, while the TMP boys claimed a hard-fought, 47-35 victory.

The Monarch boys will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak Tuesday. TMP (7-6 overall, 2-1 MCAA) lost a defensive struggle at Hoisington -- ranked fifth in Class 3A -- on Thursday, 45-35.

"That's a game that I look at as a game we have to have," TMP boys' coach Joe Hertel said of playing Ellinwood. "We can't take them lightly; we got to go their place."

The TMP girls -- who have won three straight and eight of their last nine -- held a big lead at Hoisington on Thursday, then had to hang on late for a 43-40 win. TMP coach Alan Billinger hopes some of his inexperienced players learned a lesson.

"This is a learning experience for the younger ones," Billinger said. "I hope even though we had a struggle in the second half, we learned something from that."

In the first meeting with the Eagles this season, The Monarchs' lead was so big a continuous clock was used for part of the second half. Last year in an easy win at Ellinwood, TMP standout Rachel Jacobs had a double-double -- after the first quarter.

"We've played well down there," Billinger said. "Last year, Rachel had a great first quarter, and we hope we can just jump out, really come out and play good ball."

Even though the Eagles have struggled against TMP (10-3, 3-0), Ellinwood (4-8, 0-2) already has more wins than last year.

The Eagles are led in scoring by senior guard Darrien Beckwith at 7.7 points per game. Junior forward Lindsey Zink adds 5.1 points and a team-high 6.8 rebounds.

In the first meeting with Ellinwood, TMP junior point guard Heather Ruder scored a career-high 20 points and added six assists and six steals. For the season, Ruder is averaging 10.8 points, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals per game. Jacobs, a senior forward, leads the Monarchs with 16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.6 steals, along with 2.9 assists per game. Senior forward Jenna Lang averages 13.7 points and 6.0 rebounds, with 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals.

The Monarch girls made four 3-pointers in the first quarter in the first game with Ellinwood, and was 8-of-18 from beyond the arc for the game.

As hot as the Monarch girls were, the TMP boys were cold from the field the first time out with the Eagles.

TMP made two of its 22 3-pointers and shot 32 percent from the floor. But the Monarchs' defense held Ellinwood to 24 percent shooting and outrebounded the Eagles 53-41.

Senior center Kelton Schuckman grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds.

TMP has had trouble offensively in the three straight losses, scoring 36 points twice and 35 last time out. Earlier in the year, the Monarchs had three players scoring in double figures, but only senior forward Jacob Fouts is there now, averaging 11.6 points. Senior forward Taylor Pfeifer is averaging 9.5 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds, and senior guard Nick Hammeke is at 8.9 points per game.

In the first game with the Eagles, Fouts led TMP with 13 points, while junior Kyle Blakeslee scored 17 points for Ellinwood (5-7, 1-1).

Tuesday's game is the last of a stretch to start second semester where TMP played six of seven games on the road. TMP will be home Friday against Scott City, just the second game at Al Billinger Fieldhouse since TMP played Ellinwood first time around.

"We're road-weary, there's no denying the fact we're road-weary as a team," Hertel said. "And yet, we got to go again. That's a ball game we have to have."