Ellsworth senior post Brant Deutsch attacks the basket during Thursday’s 57-49 home win over Southwest Christian. Deutsch pulled down 12 rebounds, scored eight points and passed for four assists to help EHS knock off the four-time defending state champions.
By John Rittenhouse
The Ellsworth boys came away with a big victory during an early-season clash against a pair of Southwest Minnesota basketball heavyweights Thursday in Ellsworth.
In a rematch of last March’s South Section 3A championship game, EHS entertained Southwest Christian in tilt between two state-ranked teams.
Ellsworth, ranked No. 2 in the latest Class A poll, defended its perception of being one of the state’s top teams by besting No. 10 SWC 57-49.
The game was played in an EHS gym packed with excited fans, and the teams didn’t disappoint their respective followers with their play.
It was Ellsworth, however, which made an early-season statement by beating the four-time defending state champions by eight points.
SWC got off to a fast start by scoring the game’s first four points before Ellsworth countered with a 9-2 run capped by Dylan Kvaale’s field goal with 3:32 remaining in the first period to take a 9-6 lead.
The Eagles regained the lead at 10-9, but a field goal by Ellsworth’s Curt Schilling gave the Panthers an 11-10 edge at period’s end.
After Ellsworth scored the first four points of the second quarter, SWC countered with five consecutive points to tie the game at 15.
The Eagles led 21-20 when Schilling, who led the Panthers with 22 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, drained a three-point shot to reach the 1,000-point barrier for his career (see related story elsewhere in the sports section) and give the Panthers a 23-21 lead with 2:45 left to play in the first half.
SWC battled back to knot the score at 25, but a three-point play by Schilling with 57 seconds left followed by a field goal from Travis Jenniges with 15 seconds remaining gave the Panthers a 30-25 halftime cushion.
Ellsworth dominated the play in the third quarter, building a 45-33 advantage when Brant Deutsch scored with 1:02 remaining in the stanza.
The Eagles, however, trimmed the difference to nine points (45-36) at period’s end.
Schilling scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to give the Panthers their biggest lead of the night (49-36) before SWC put together a 13-4 run to pull within four points (53-49) with 1:51 remaining.
That proved to be as close as the Eagles would come to catching EHS as the Panthers received field goals from Schilling and Blake Brommer in final two minutes to win by eight.
Jenniges scored 10 first-half points and finished the game with 12 counters. Deutsch snared 12 rebounds and passed for four assists. Kvaale finished with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Box score
Schilling 8 1 3-4 22, Jenniges 6 0 0-0 12, Janssen 1 0 0-0 2, Kvaale 3 1 0-0 9, Deutsch 4 0 0-2 8, Brommer 2 0 0-0 4.
Individual statistics
Ellsworth: 26 of 50 field goals (52 percent), six of 11 free throws (55 percent), 45 rebounds, 11 turnovers.