Ellsworth junior post Curt Schilling dominated the paint area during Tuesday’s 76-66 double overtime win over New Life Academy during a quarterfinal-round game of the Minnesota State High School Class A Boys’ Basketball Tournament in St. Peter. Schilling scored 34 points and collected 14 rebounds to help the Panthers advance to Friday’s semifinals at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Ellsworth plays Red Lake at 3 p.m. for a berth in Saturday’s championship game.
By John Rittenhouse
Give credit to Ellsworth junior Curt Schilling and the rest of players on the Panther boys’ basketball team. They’re not afraid to set lofty goals.
Minutes after a 34-point, 14-rebound effort in a 76-66 double-overtime victory over New Life Academy (Woodbury), Schilling shared some information from a team meeting last March.
The Panther’s successful 20-6 season last year ended with a loss to Southwest Christian in last year’s South Section 3A championship game.
Knowing that all the players were coming back for the 2002-03 campaign, the year-end meeting was upbeat and goal-oriented.
"Everyone got together at the end of last season," Schilling recalled Tuesday. "We said we got 20 wins last year, so let’s go for 30 this year. We’ve got two more games to win before we reach that goal."
Thanks to Tuesday’s victory over NLA in the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota State Class A Boys’ Basketball Tournament at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Ellsworth is in a position to win 30 games. If the 28-2 Panthers can extend their current 11-game winning streak to 13 games this weekend in Minneapolis, Ellsworth will reach its goal and capture a state championship at the same time.
The next step in the process begins at 3 p.m. Friday when Ellsworth takes on 23-8 Red Lake (a 64-46 winner over Cook County in a quarterfinal-round tilt played in Hibbing Tuesday) in the tournament’s semifinals at the Target Center.
It took every ounce of energy the Panthers had to slip past the NLA Eagles (23-8) during Tuesday’s contest in St. Peter, which was the first state tournament game played by either school.
The teams exchanged leads throughout the game by hitting clutch shots and putting together mini-runs, but it was Ellsworth that survived the 40-minute test of will, earning the right to play two more games.
Schilling, a post with the ability to drain a three-point shot, missed his only opportunity from beyond the three-point arc in the game. He concentrated his efforts in the paint area, where he made 11 field goals and earned enough trips to the charity stripe to make 12 of 15 free throws.
"It was a very physical game," Schilling offered. "I thought I was getting fouled a lot, and I asked one of the refs, ‘What is it going to take to get a foul called?’ He told me that I was forcing a lot, and I didn’t think I was. It was something I just had to play through. The whole team had to play through it, and I thought we did a good job of that. This was a great team effort."
Schilling’s patience with the referees paid off in the fourth quarter and in overtime when he converted three three-point plays for EHS, providing an emotional lift with each one.
Trailing 42-39 entering the fourth quarter, Schilling produced two of his three-point plays during a 10-2 surge that gave the Panthers a 49-44 advantage with 5:05 left in regulation play.
Senior Blake Brommer gave the Panthers an eight-point cushion (54-46) when he drained a pair of free throws at the 2:02 mark of the fourth quarter. The Eagles, however, countered with an 11-3 run capped by a three-point shot by Mark Petrich with 14 seconds left to knot the score at 57.
Schilling put up a potential game-winning shot as time expired, but the 12-footer drew iron and rimmed off the mark.
Both teams sported one-point leads in the first four-minute overtime session.
The Eagles tied the game at 61 when Matt Nylin made one of two free throws with 42.9 seconds remaining, and NLA received a big break when Ellsworth was whistled for an over-and-back violation with 2.5 seconds left.
The Eagles in-bounded the ball at the half-court line, but they didn’t get off a shot before time expired.
The second overtime session belonged to Ellsworth as Schilling (eight points) and senior Brant Deutsch (six points) scored a combined 14 points to help the Panthers outscore the Eagles 15-5 in the four-minute span.
The game was up for grabs when NLA’s Tony Lerud turned a steal into a layup with 1:32 left to trim what was a 67-64 EHS lead into a 67-66 edge.
Ellsworth then scored nine unanswered points (four from Schilling, four from Deutsch and one from senior Travis Jenniges) in the game’s final 1:13 to prevail by 10.
The game’s first three quarters were very competitive.
Trailing 5-2 early, Ellsworth moved in front 8-5 at the 5:00 mark of the first quarter with back-to-back threes by Jenniges and Brommer. NLA used an 8-2 run to regain the lead at 13-10 and took a 17-14 edge into the second quarter.
Ellsworth senior Dylan Kvaale, who turned in 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists, five blocked shots and three steals for the game, hit a pair of threes to spark an 8-0 run that gave EHS a 22-17 lead with 4:31 left in the first half.
NLA, which scored its first two points at the 2:50 mark of the second stanza, ended the half with a 20-2 run to sport a 27-24 lead at the intermission.
A pair of field goals by Schilling in the first 56 seconds of the third quarter gave EHS a 28-27 lead that disappeared when the Eagles put together an 11-5 run to gain a 38-33 advantage.
Ellsworth pulled within one point (40-39) when Kvaale converted a field goal with 20 seconds left, but the Eagles scored with three seconds left to take a 42-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
Deutsch contributed 12 points and six rebounds to the winning cause. Jenniges came up with five rebounds and three assists. Brommer added four rebounds.
Box score
Schilling 11 0 12-15 34, Jenniges 2 1 1-4 8, Kvaale 4 2 2-5 12, Deutsch 4 0 4-6 12, Brommer 0 1 2-2 5, Janssen 1 1 0-0 5.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 25 of 64 (39 percent, 21 of 32 free throws (66 percent), 41 rebounds, nine turnovers.
NLA: 25 of 57 field goals (44 percent), 10 of 13 free throws (77 percent), 38 rebounds, 15 turnovers.
