Ellsworth seniors Blake Brommer (35) and Brant Deutsch (33), pictured boxing up Adrian’s Brent Block during Thursday’s South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament semifinal-round game against Adrian in Worthington, helped the Panthers shut down Southwest Christian during Saturday’s championship game in Marshall. Ellsworth limited SWC to four field goals and 15 points in the second half of a 50-45 EHS victory. The win gave the Panthers their first post-season tournament title in school history, and gave them a berth in today’s Section 3A Championship game against Wabasso in Marshall.
By John Rittenhouse
The greatest run in the history of high school basketball in the state of Minnesota came to an end Saturday at Southwest State University in Marshall.
Southwest Christian had won 30 straight post-season games while winning an unprecedented four consecutive Class A state championships. But the Edgerton team was knocked off its lofty perch by Ellsworth during the championship game of the South Section 3A Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
Ellsworth, which trailed by as many as five points in the game’s first half, gained a lead early in the third quarter and never let it go while nailing down a 50-45 victory.
The win gave EHS its first post-season tournament championship in the history of the school, and sends the Panthers into today’s Section 3A championship game at SSU.
The 26-2 Panthers play 22-6 Wabasso, which won the North Section 3A title with a 67-53 victory over Canby, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Marshall.
Although EHS does have an important game to play tonight, Panther coach Ken Kvaale spent some time reflecting from his rural Ellsworth home Sunday night on what his team accomplished Saturday.
"This is our time," he said. "We knew about SWC’s 30-game (post-season) winning streak, and not to be arrogant about it, we wanted to do something about it. To be honest, I had some concerns about the game. We’re a team that plays six deep off the bench. SWC is a deep team that plays 10 or 12 players, and they have all that experience. But this is our time, and it has been a precious time for all of us."
As impressive as SWC’s recent history has been, the Eagles had to be considered the underdog in Marshall Saturday.
SWC used a 9-0 run to snap a tie midway through the fourth quarter of last year’s South Section 3A title game and posted an 80-74 victory over the Panthers. The Eagles entered this year’s tournament as the No. 3 seed, but Ellsworth, which beat SWC 57-49 when the teams met in Ellsworth Dec. 5, was seeded No. 1 based on its performance during a 23-2 regular season.
The Eagles, however, played like they were not ready to give up their throne.
SWC scored the game’s first five points before Ellsworth countered with a 5-0 run featuring a field goal from Curt Schilling and a three-point play by Dylan Kvaale to tie the game at five.
The score was tied at seven when SWC scored four straight points to gain an 11-7 edge, but the Panthers used a free throw from Brant Deutsch and field goals from Schilling and Travis Jenniges late in the first quarter to give EHS a 12-11 lead at period’s end.
Ellsworth led 17-14 after Deutsch converted a field goal during the second quarter before the Eagles put together a 7-0 run to gain a 22-17 advantage.
The Panthers trimmed the difference to one point two different times as the period progressed, and knotted the score at 28 with a field goal from Kvaale. SWC, however, scored the final two points of the first half to take a 30-28 halftime lead.
Ellsworth regained the lead for good (34-30) when Kvaale drained a three-point shot and Schilling converted a three-point play in the early stages of the third quarter.
SWC pulled within two points (36-34) as the period progressed, but a field goal by Jenniges was followed by a steal and a layup from reserve Tom Janssen, giving Ellsworth its biggest lead of the game (40-34) at period’s end.
The Eagles scored the first two points of the fourth quarter before EHS countered with a 6-0 surge, featuring a pair of field goals by Schilling and two free throws from Deutsch to open a 46-36 cushion.
A pair of three-point shots by SWC’s John Top, the last one coming with 18 seconds remaining, highlighted a 9-2 surge by the Eagles that ended with the Panthers clinging to a 48-45 lead.
Jenniges, however, ended any thoughts of a SWC rally when he capped the scoring with a late layup to ice the game.
A strong defensive effort by EHS in the second half was one of the keys to victory.
After SWC made 13 of 24 field goals (54 percent) while scoring 30 points in the first half, EHS clamped down on the Eagles by limiting them to four of 24 (17 percent) from the floor and 15 points in the second half.
"Our man-to-man defense definitely was a key. We played extremely well defensively," coach Kvaale offered.
Schilling led the Panthers in the game with 21 points and nine rebounds. Dylan Kvaale added 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to the winning cause. Jenniges and Deutsch charted seven and six rebounds respectively. Janssen charted four steals.
Ken Kvaale expects an equally tough challenge from Wabasso, the No. 1 seed from the north. The coach has seen the Rabbits play three games this season, and he respects what they will bring to the court.
"They are a very intense team that likes to press here and there. They have good balance as a team, and they have some good shooters. It should be an excellent match-up," he said.
"The key for us will be to keep doing the things we have been doing all year. We need to play our game, protect the ball and play intense Panther basketball."
Box score
Schilling 9 0 3-5 21, Kvaale 4 1 1-2 12, Deutsch 2 0 4-6 8, Brommer 0 0 1-4 1, Jenniges 3 0 0-0 6, Janssen 1 0 0-0 2, Myhrer 0 0 0-0 0.
Team statistics
Ellsworth: 20 of 52 field goals (38 percent), nine of 17 free throws (53 percent), 28 rebounds, 10 turnovers.
SWC: 17 of 48 field goals (35 percent), three of five free throws (60 percent), 17 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
