PREP BOYS BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Gruis scores 28 points to lead Panthers past Eagles

ELLSWORTH — Trevor Gruis scored 28 points and had six assists and seven rebounds Thursday night to lead the Ellsworth boys’ basketball team to a 55-40 victory over Southwest Christian.

Ellsworth was in control in the first half, scoring 30 points and holding SWC to 10.

Freshman forward Casey Schilling was dominant defensively for the Panthers, recording five blocks. Tom Nolte contributed with seven rebounds and three steals.

Southwest Christian’s Derek Tinklenberg had seven points on the night.

Ellsworth (2-0, 2-0) will participate in the Marshall Holiday Tournament Dec. 29 and open against the Pipestone Area Arrows.

SWC   10 30 — 40

Ellsworth 30 25 — 55

SSC 76, RL-B 42

OKABENA — Putting up 24 more shots than Round Lake-Brewster in the first half, Southwest Star Concept sprinted to an impressive 37-12 halftime lead on the Raiders, who made just 3 of 18 shots from the field in the first 18 minutes.

Seven players scored for the Quasars (2-0, 2-0) in that explosive first half, which was keyed by swarming defensive ball pressure and nice team defensive weak-side help.

“We played well tonight and ran the floor like we wanted to,” SSC head coach Tim Owen said. “We had a balanced effort with lots of guys contributing. I was pleased with our defensive techniques, which allowed us to capitalize on the tactics that we wanted to use.”

Ben Scheevel (16 points, five steals, four assists) and Alex Collin (13 points, six rebounds) topped SSC’s scoring chart, while Cory Pelzel (10 points, seven assists, three steals) and Jeremy Crocker (10 points, five rebounds, two assists) also notched double figures. 

Will Cranston and Kirk McBreen (three assists) added nine and eight points, respectively, and Brady Hall dished out five second-half assists for the Quasars, who host Lincoln HI tonight in the second game of the annual Candy Cane Classic at Okabena.

Lakeview and Westbrook-Walnut Grove square off in the first game. The consolation and championship games are set for Saturday.

Dillon Hansen (12 points, seven rebounds), Jeremy Nelson (eight points), Neil McNab (five points) and Jake Walker (three assists) were the statistical leaders for the Raiders (0-4, 0-2), who are idle until Dec. 29 when they play Cedar Mountain/Comfrey in the opening round of the Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin Holiday Classic.

RL-B   12 30 — 42

SSC   37 39 — 76

RRC 53, ML/B-O 43

MOUNTAIN LAKE — Tyler Erickson scored 18 points, and Jake Fredrickson had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead Red Rock Central to its first win of the season.

Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin scored just 13 first-half points and trailed by 12 at the intermission but battled back to pull to within six points midway through the second half. But the Falcons (1-2, 1-1) hit some key shots and made their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Junior forward Steven Herrig had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Issac Hildebrandt had 10 points and six assists to lead the Wolverines (1-3, 0-2).

Beau Herrig added eight points and nine rebounds for ML/B-O, which will host the Wolverine Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30.

The Falcons will play next at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton on Dec. 29.

RRC 25 28 — 53

ML/B-O 13 30 — 43

Fulda 62, Edgerton 56

EDGERTON — Senior guard Tyler Goedtke scored 20 points to lead Fulda to a come-from-behind victory.

The Raiders scored just 18 first-half points and trailed by nine at the intermission but clawed back to take their first lead late in the game.

Edgerton trailed by three points with fewer than two minutes remaining but couldn’t regain control.

Alex Van’t Hof had 19 points, and Alex Heard added 18 to lead the Flying Dutchmen, who were outrebounded 44-40.

Fulda 18 44 — 62

Edgerton 27 29 — 56

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