Ellsworth’s Curt Schilling (11) and Dereck Klaassen (51) lead the Panther boys’ basketball team during a trophy celebration at the end of Saturday’s South Section 3A Tournament championship game at Southwest State University in Marshall. The Panthers won their second straight South Section title by defeating Hills-Beaver Creek 65-60.By John RittenhouseIt seemed fitting to see a net draped around the neck of Ellsworth senior Curt Schilling after Saturday’s Section 3A South Boys’ Basketball Tournament championship game against Hills-Beaver Creek at Southwest State University in Marshall.After all, it was Schilling’s sharp shooting in the second half that created excessive wear and tear on that very net while propelling the Panthers to a 65-60 victory over the Patriots.Schilling scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half, including four clutch free throws in the final minute, to help Ellsworth repeat as the South Section 3A champion.Ellsworth’s victory came at the expense of a gutsy H-BC squad that played well enough to win the game, but the Patriots had to settle for a second-place trophy that marks the end of their 20-9 season.The Panthers will play for their second straight Section 3A title tonight in Marshall. Ellsworth, 23-6 overall, will take on Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the 8 p.m. championship game at SSU. R-T-R defeated Canby 56-47 for the North Section 3A crown Saturday.Schilling, a key member of Ellsworth’s 2002-03 team that placed second at the state tournament, came up big for the Panthers against H-BC. After being limited to six points against an H-BC zone defense in the first half, Schilling found more room to operate when H-BC switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half."They were sagging down and double-teaming me in their zone in the first half, and our guys had a hard time trying to get the ball into me," Schilling said. "It was frustrating, because we couldn’t get the ball inside. When they went to man (man-to-man defense) in the second half, we were a little more successful."According to Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema, H-BC had to switch defenses in the second half because the Panthers were getting too many second chances to score because of their work on the glass."Their offensive rebounding killed us," Wiertzema said. "Offensive rebounds basically are automatic points, and I bet they got 20 points on offensive rebounds. We held Schilling down in the first half by doubling him from the front and behind, but we had to switch things up because we were getting killed so bad with their offensive boards."It looked as if the defensive switch would pay off for H-BC. It rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to trail by four (33-29) when junior Kale Wiertzema drained a three-point shot at the 5:59 mark of the third quarter.The teams proceeded to exchange baskets before the second of two three-point shots by H-BC’s Zach Wysong trimmed Ellsworth’s lead to two points (45-43) with 1:03 remaining in the quarter that ended with the Panthers sporting a 47-45 edge.Ellsworth led by four points at two different occasions in the early stages of the fourth quarter, but H-BC rallied with a 6-0 spurt capped by a layup from Tyler Bush at 5:59 to give the Patriots their first lead (53-51) since late in the first quarter.The Panthers responded to the challenge by reeling off 10 consecutive points and led 61-53 when Lee Farrell banked home a field goal with 3:09 left to play.H-BC’s Kale Wiertzema, who scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, capped a 7-0 Patriot run with a field goal at the 1:32 mark of the period that made it a 61-60 game.The Patriots resorted to fouling the Panthers when they couldn’t steal the ball away from Ellsworth late in the game. Schilling, who missed three free throws in the first half, made the Patriots pay for fouling him. He drained two free throws with 29.7 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game before sinking two more charity shots with 14.4 seconds left to cap the scoring."You know, you want the ball in that situation," Schilling said when asked what he was feeling at the charity stripe late in the game. "I wish I would have made those free throws in the first half, but I wasn’t used to shooting at a basket with so much open space behind it. I had to get used to it and came through in the end."The game’s first half was just as competitive as the second half.The teams exchanged the lead early before H-BC moved in front 6-3 with two free throws from Bush at the 5:06 mark of the first quarter.The Patriots led 10-7 when reserve Travis Broesder connected for a field goal at the 1:58 mark of the stanza. Ellsworth ended the period with a 5-0 spurt that ended with Todd Alberty turning an offensive rebound into a field goal with 28 seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 12-10 edge.Ellsworth led 13-12 in the second quarter when it went on a 7-0 run that ended with a lay-in from Adam Sieff at the 4:56 mark to make it a 20-12 game.H-BC trimmed the difference to three-points (20-17) when Bush converted a three-point play at 3:37, but the Panthers countered with a 9-4 spurt and led 29-21 when Sieff buried a three-point shot with 1:52 remaining before settling for a seven-point (31-24) halftime advantage.Alberty, who scored 10 points in the second half, chipped in 19 points and six rebounds to the winning cause. Schilling snared nine rebounds and passed for five assists. Tom Janssen scored 10 points for the Panthers. Sieff charted five assists.Wiertzema led H-BC with five rebounds. Bush scored 11 points and passed for six assists. Senior Trey Van Wyhe netted 10 points in his final game as a Patriot. Wysong passed for five assists, and Tom LeBoutillier nabbed four rebounds.Ellsworth will be playing a familiar foe in R-T-R tonight in Marshall. The Panthers defeated the Knights 65-55 in Tyler Jan. 8 before upending R-T-R 78-56 in Ellsworth Feb. 6."It should be a good game," Schilling said, of the section title game. "We’ve beat them twice, but they are a tough team with good shooters. It’s going to be a battle."Box scoreH-BCBush 4 0 3-4 11, Wysong 0 2 0-0 6, Broesder 2 0 0-0 4, Wiertzema 9 2 3-6 27, Van Wyhe 5 0 0-0 10, Spykerboer 0 0 0-0 0, LeBoutillier 1 0 0-0 2.EllsworthCr.Schilling 7 0 8-11 22, Janssen 2 2 0-0 10, Co.Schilling 0 1 0-0 3, Sieff 1 1 0-0 5, Alberty 8 1 0-0 19, Herman 0 0 0-0 0, Farrell 3 0 0-1 6.Team statisticsH-BC: 25 of 43 field goals (58 percent), six of 10 free throws (60 percent), 21 rebounds, six turnovers.Ellsworth: 26 of 50 field goals (52 percent), eight of 12 free throws (67 percent), 28 rebounds, five turnovers.
