Ellsworth junior Curt Schilling (11) weaves his way through a trio of Adrian defenders including Kyle Knips (33) and Brett Block (bottom, left) during the second half of Thursday’s South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament game in Worthington. Ellsworth defeated the Dragons 70-56 to earn a berth in the event’s championship game for the second straight year.
By John Rittenhouse
A rematch of last season’s South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament championship emerged out of Thursday’s semifinal-round games in Worthington.
Top-seeded Ellsworth earned its second consecutive berth in the title tilt by besting Adrian 70-56 in a physical battle between a pair of teams representing the Star Herald coverage area.
When third-seeded Southwest Christian beat Edgerton 67-49 in Thursday’s second semifinal game, the rematch of last year’s championship game was on.
Look for the game story of Ellsworth’s clash with SWC at Southwest State University in Marshall on the front page of the sports section.
Adrian, the tournament’s fifth seed, gave the Panthers a run for their money during Thursday’s battle in Worthington.
The Dragons stunned EHS by opening a pair of 10-point leads in the final stages of the first quarter, but Ellsworth met the challenge by outscoring Adrian 56-32 in the final three periods to prevail by 14 points.
The win upped Ellsworth’s season record to 25-2 heading into the championship game. Adrian’s 15-9 campaign came to an end.
With Pete Hohn, Brandon Wolf and Casey Knips scoring six points each to lead the way, Adrian shocked the fans in the packed WHS gym by rolling to a 24-14 lead in the first quarter.
Ellsworth led 6-4 when Adrian put together an 18-6 run capped by a pair of free throws from Wolf with 36.4 seconds remaining in the period to give the Dragons a 22-12 lead.
Both teams scored two points in the final 30 seconds of the stanza.
The game’s momentum favored Adrian heading into the second period, but that changed quickly as senior guard Dylan Kvaale scored eight points to help the Panthers gain a 31-30 halftime lead with a 17-6 scoring cushion in the quarter.
Ellsworth blanked the Dragons for the first 4:38 of the second stanza while putting together a 13-0 run capped by a layup from Kvaale at the 4:13 mark of the quarter to give the Panthers a 27-24 lead.
Kyle Knips recorded Adrian’s first points of the period with a field goal with 3:22 remaining to make it a 27-26 game. Each team scored five points before the first half was complete.
Dragon Dusty Spieker gave his team a 32-31 edge with an early basket in the third quarter, but that proved to be the last time AHS would sport a lead in the game.
Curt Schilling, who scored 21 of his game-high 31 points in the second half, hit a pair of field goals to put the Panthers in front to stay.
Adrian did battle back to tie the game at 37 and 39 as the period progressed, but the Panthers ended the period with an 8-2 run capped by a three-point play from Schilling with 51 seconds left to give EHS a 47-41 advantage.
The Dragons were unable to close the gap in the early stages of the fourth quarter, and Ellsworth led 57-45 when Schilling converted a field goal with 2:38 left to play.
Adrian trimmed the difference to eight points three times late in the period, but Ellsworth met the challenge each time before winning the game by 14 points in the end.
Along with scoring 31 points, Schilling pulled down 10 rebounds, passed for six assists and blocked two shots for the winners.
Kvaale scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds and charted seven assists, while Brant Deutsch added 14 points and nine rebounds to the winning cause. Travis Jenniges recorded four steals and four assists for EHS.
Wolf scored a team-high 13 points and passed for five assists during a solid performance for Adrian.
Casey Knips scored 12 points, collected eight rebounds and blocked three shots for the Dragons, while Pete Hohn added 10 points and five rebounds. Brett Block charted six assists for AHS.
Box score
Adrian
Hohn 1 2 2-2 10, Wolf 4 1 2-2 13, Henning 1 0 0-0 2, Klingenberg 0 0 0-0 0, Spieker 1 0 0-0 2, Block 3 1 0-0 9, K.Knips 2 0 0-0 4, Brake 2 0 0-2 4, C.Knips 6 0 0-0 12.
Ellsworth
Schilling 11 0 9-9 31, Jenniges 3 0 2-2 8, Janssen 0 0 0-0 0, Kvaale 5 1 2-2 15, Deutsch 4 1 3-5 14, Brommer 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
Adrian: 24 of 58 field goals (41 percent), four of six free throws (67 percent), 25 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
Ellsworth: 26 of 62 field goals (42 percent), 16 of 18 free throws (89 percent), 30 rebounds, 12 turnovers.
