By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth boys’ basketball team split games to open the 2003-04 winter season.The Panthers posted an 18-point home win over Lakeview Thursday before falling by one point to Southwest Christian in Edgerton Monday.Ellsworth, 1-1 overall, plays in Canby Thursday and in Hills Monday.SWC 76, Ellsworth 75A late rally by the Panthers fell one point short during Monday’s game against the Eagles in Edgerton.Trailing by 10 points with 3:30 left to play, EHS used full-court pressure to get back into the game.Adam Sieff, who scored 36 points and recorded five assists for EHS, drained a three-point shot with two seconds remaining to make it a one-point difference. SWC, however, ran the remaining time off the clock to clinch the victory.Panther coach Ken Kvaale liked the way his team battled the Eagles until the final seconds of the game, but he said EHS simply made too many mistakes to overcome."Not taking care of the ball (EHS had 20 turnovers) is something that hurt us. We also had a couple of defensive lapses, and we were impatient in running our offense," he said.SWC sported 21-15, 39-32 and 52-46 leads at the first three quarter breaks.Todd Alberty scored 18 points for the Panthers. Brian Gacke snared 13 rebounds and Tom Janssen distributed three assists for EHS.Box scoreJanssen 3 0 0-0 6, Co.Schilling 2 0 0-0 4, Sieff 10 2 10-13 36, Alberty 4 1 7-9 18, Herman 2 0 0-0 4, Gacke 3 0 1-4 7, Klaassen 0 0 0-0 0.Team statisticsEllsworth: 27 of 52 field goals (52 percent), 18 of 27 free throws (67 percent), 32 rebounds, 20 turnovers.Ellsworth 63,Lakeview 45The Panthers opened the season by rolling to an 18-point home win over a tall Lakeview squad in Ellsworth Thursday.Panther coach Kvaale was concerned how his players would fare in the paint against a Laker team that has six players 6-4 or taller. Ellsworth’s Gacke, Ben Herman, Alberty, Lee Farrell and Derick Klaassen met the challenge by combining efforts to out-rebound Lakeview 29-27."The key for us was our play inside," Kvaale said. "Lakeview has a big lineup, but I thought our guys played tough on the inside against them."Alberty, who led the Panthers with 10 rebounds and 21 points, helped EHS open 15-9 and 30-17 leads at the first two quarter breaks by scoring 16 points in the first half.Guards Janssen and Sieff, who chipped in 18 and 16 points respectively, scored 10 points each in the second half, when Ellsworth sported a 44-22 scoring cushion after three quarters of play before winning by 18.Farrell charted five rebounds and five assists for the winners. Sieff added five rebounds and four assists.Box scoreJanssen 3 3 3-5 18, Co.Schilling 1 0 0-2 2, Sieff 5 0 6-10 16, Alberty 10 0 1-5 21, Herman 2 0 0-0 4, Gacke 1 0 0-0 2, Farrell 0 0 0-2 0.Team statisticsEllsworth: 55 percent field goals (no totals were available), 10 of 24 free throws (42 percent), 29 rebounds, 18 turnovers.
