By Mark HaugenThe Ellsworth boys basketball team pushed its record back to the .500 mark with two wins last week.The Panthers beat Plankinton, S.D., 65-43 in Mitchell, S.D., on Tuesday night and downed Lake Benton 76-56 in Ellsworth on Thursday.Ellsworth, 3-3, goes back to Mitchell on Dec. 27 to play Geddes, S.D., and then plays there on Dec. 28.Ellsworth 65, Plankinton 43The Panthers cruised to a 19-9 first-quarter lead and kept their distance the rest of the way.Freshman Cody Schilling notched a triple-double, scoring 17 points with 14 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. The hottest shooting hand belonged to Aaron VanDerStoep who scored 20, including four of six on 3-pointers."I thought we played pretty well, but we got a little ragged in the second half," Coach Ken Kvaale said. "We started in the press right away and took an 8-0 lead and seemed to be in control from there."Ellsworth 76, Lake Benton 56Ellsworth pulled away from a 20-20 tie at the end of the first quarter to record the victory.Schilling poured in 30 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for the Panthers. VanDerStoep added 17 points and five assists, while Ben Herman had 13 points and nine rebounds.
