PREP BOYS' BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: SWC drops Ellsworth in conference showdown

ELLSWORTH — In a battle of two top teams in the Red Rock Conference, Tuesday’s showdown between the Ellsworth and Southwest Christian boys’ basketball teams had all the makings of a thriller.

As expected, the game came down to the final minutes.

With the score tied and three minutes remaining, SWC was able to collect a key offensive rebound and converted a turnover late en route to a 56-52 victory.

The Eagles remain a perfect 4-0 in conference, while the Panthers fall to 4-1 in the RRC.

Zach Huisken scored 20 points, including 14 in the first half, to lead SWC, which had a 27-18 lead at the break.

Andrew Top added 18 points for the Eagles.

Casey Schilling scored a game-high 31 points for Ellsworth. He added four blocks and had two of the Panther’s three assists in the game.

Ellsworth committed 20 turnovers.

Dalton Huisman added 10 points and five steals, while Logan Ahlers pulled down six rebounds.

The Panthers will host Murray County Central on Friday.

SWC 27 29 — 56

Ellsworth 18 34 — 52

SSC 54, RRC 47

OKABENA — Effectively switching defenses and playing well at game’s end, Southwest Star Concept shook off several Red Rock Central rallies and claimed a seven-point victory over the Falcons in Red Rock Conference action.

The Quasars (6-3, 3-3) put together a 13-0 run midway through the first half and later opened up a 12-point lead in the second half before RRC (2-8, 0-6) came within two points, 44-42, with just over four minutes left.

SSC, however, closed out the contest by scoring 10 of the game’s last 15 points.

Junior post players Jameson Collin (21 points, 15 rebounds) and Austin Liepold (10 points, 14 rebounds) both had strong double-doubles for the Quasars, while Sean Haberman (10 points, five assists, four rebounds) came up with several clutch plays late in the game after sparking SSC’s first-half surge by hitting a trio of shots from the perimeter.

Andrew Kramer helped the Quasar cause by coming up eight steals and seven points, while Alex Meyer scored six timely points.

Andrew Engen, Henry Rogotzke (five rebounds), Jeff DeCock (four assists) and Daniel Maras (seven rebounds) paced a well-balanced RRC scoring attack with 11, 10, nine and eight points, respectively.

Dylan Bunting had a team-high eight rebounds for the Falcons, who travel to Adrian Friday night to face the Dragons.    

SSC hosts Southwest Christian Friday evening.

RRC 23 24 — 47

SSC   25 29 — 54   

H-BC 68, Adrian 57

ADRIAN — Travis Helgeson scored a game-high 25 points, leading Hills-Beaver Creek to a Red Rock Conference victory.

Karic Wiertzema added 12 points for the Patriots, who had a 36-20 lead at halftime.

Jeff Sandbulte and Seth Nuffer each added seven points for H-BC, which improves to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

Kyle Kilgore scored 21 points to go along with 17 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Dragons, who outscored H-BC 37-32 in the second half.

Brandon Weidert added 19 points, while Nick Reyne added eight points. Tyler Hornstein dished out five assists for the Dragons, who will host Red Rock Central on Friday.

H-BC 36 32 — 68

Adrian 20 37 — 57

Fulda 54, Edgerton 39

EDGERTON — Rob Kuhl led a strong Fulda performance against Edgerton, leading the Raiders to victory with a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds.

FHS’ Matthew Appel added 12 points and seven rebounds, and Aaron Tiesler contributed eight points and eight rebounds. Clarke Hein had five points and five assists.

The Flying Dutchmen were led by Jordan Gunnink, who notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Fulda (6-6 overall, 3-3 conference) travels to Westbrook-Walnut Grove of Friday.

Edgerton (1-5) hosts Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin on Friday.

FHS 31 23 — 54

Edgerton 18 21 — 39

RL-B 63, W-WG 41

WESTBROOK — Marty Schmitz scored a game-high 23 points as Round Lake-Brewster fended off Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

Mitchel VanWesten added 13 points for the Raiders, and Tim Kennedy contributed 12 points.

Aaron Theisen led the Chargers with 12 points, and Jacob Comnick 910 points, 13 rebounds) and Jared Lindaman (10 points, 17 rebounds) each had exceptional rebounding games.

RL-B is at home against Hills-Beaver Creek on Friday.

W-WG (3-8 overall, 1-4 conference) is at home on Friday against Fulda. The game is tied in with the Chargers’ Coaches Against Cancer event.

RL-B 25 38 — 63

W-WG 16 25 — 41

H-LP 50, A-R 34

LAKE PARK, Iowa — After a close first three quarters, Harris-Lake Park broke the game open in the fourth quarter on its way to a victory against Armstrong-Ringsted.

In the two teams’ previous matchup, A-R won in a game with a very similar flow of momentum, outscoring H-LP 18-9 in the fourth quarter during that contest.

Eli Ihnen led the Wolves with a double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Brady Nissen added 17 points, Jacob Ihnen had a team-high 14 rebounds, and Kade Heikens contributed four assists.

Spencer Klausen led A-R (7-3 overall, 3-1 conference) with 14 points.

H-LP (10-2 overall, 4-0 conference) plays a makeup game against Ruthven-Ayrshire at home on Thursday.

A-R 7 8 12 7 — 34

H-LP 8 7 16 19 — 50

R-T-R 75, T-M-B 65

RUSSELL — Russell-Tyler Ruthton’s Philip Madsen hit s 3-pointer with just under two minutes to go to give his team the lead, and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton was unable to make up the deficit, dropping the Panthers to their first loss of the season.

Dominic Dolan had a good all-around game for T-M-B with 14 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds. Joe Hook led the team with 15 points, Shane Erickson had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Jeremy Hoflock contributed nine points and six rebounds. James Fultz added eight points.

The Panthers (10-1) host Marshall on Thursday.

T-M-B 36 29 — 65

R-T-R 37 28 — 75

G-LR 70, Okoboji 29

OKOBOJI, Iowa — Ethan Van Briesen scored a game-high 16 points as George-Little Rock cruised past Okoboji.

Taylor Klingenberg added 11 points and seven assists, while Matt Nagel scored nine points and had seven rebounds.

Jeff Wagennar scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds for the ustangs (6-6, 5-6), who had a 40-17 lead at halftime.

G-LR, which made twice as many 3-pointers (8) as it had turnovers (four), will host Sheldon on Friday.

G-LR 16 24 16 14 — 70

Okoboji 7 10 3 9 — 29

Tags: southwest christian, southwest star concept, red rock central, hills-beaver-creek, round lake-brewster, westbrook-walnut grove, harris-lake park, tracy-milroy-balaton, george-little rock, sports, prep, basketball, ellsworth, adrian, fulda, edgerton