Ellsworth Boys Punch Ticket to First State Tourney in 33 years, Girls Fall in Sub-State Final

Girls: Haven 48, Ellsworth 39
Boys: Ellsworth 45, Haven 25

HOISINGTON-Riley Stone scored 17 points to lead three Ellsworth Bearcats in double figures as Ellsworth qualified for its first State Tournament since 1991 with a 45-25 victory over Haven in the Hoisington Class 3A Boys Sub-State Championship game Saturday evening at the Hoisington Activity Center.

Haven jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening quarter before top seed Ellsworth fought back to lead 12-9 after the first eight minutes.  The Bearcats used a suffocating defense to hold #2 seed Haven to just three second quarter points to stretch their lead to 21-12 at halftime.  The Wildcats pulled to within 23-16 early in the second half before Ellsworth closed the third quarter on a 5-2 run to lead 28-18.  The Bearcats then pulled away in the final period to punch their first ticket to State in 33 years led by second-year coach Brett Rolfs who won back-to-back Boys state titles with Central Plains in 2018 and 2019.

Joining Stone in double figures for Ellsworth (19-4) were Lane Rolfs with 13 points and Will Cravens with 10 points.  Gatlin Rinehart led Haven (16-7) with seven points.  Ellsworth's defense held Haven star Dalton Bontrager to six points and just one field goal for the entire game and held him scoreless in the second half.

In the Girls 3A Sub-State title game, the Ellsworth Lady Bearcats were making a bid for their first trip to the State Tournament since 1989 but they fell to top seed Haven 48-39.

Haven scored the game's first four points before Ellsworth battled back to take a brief lead before the Lady Wildcats nosed back in front 11-10 after the first quarter.  Haven outscored #3 seed Ellsworth 12-7 in the second frame and held a 23-17 lead at intermission.  In the third quarter Ellsworth battled back from as many as seven points down to tie the score 24-24 and later 27-27 before the Lady Wildcats closed the period on a 10-4 run to lead 37-31.  In the fourth quarter the Lady Bearcats who were in foul trouble for much of the game were not able to overcome the deficit as Haven pulled away to qualify for their first State Tournament since 2016.

Sienna DeFrain led Haven (16-7) with 19 points while Karlee Cooprider chipped in with 11 points.  Paityn Tenbrink and Alexis Moore led Ellsworth (11-12) with eight points apiece.

Saturday's game was the final contest in an Ellsworth uniform for eight Lady Bearcat seniors including Tenbrink, Lexi West, Peyton Coonrod, Alyssa Rodriguez, Isabelle Lindsley, Kylan Turnipseed, Josie Kueser and Rylan Ohl.

The Ellsworth Boys will begin play at the Class 3A State Tournament on Wednesday, March 6 against Wellsville (20-3) at 4 PM at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.  Other teams qualifying for the tourney include fellow North Central Activities Association members Beloit and Southeast of Saline as well as Cheney, Riverton, Topeka Hayden, Goodland and Wellsville. To see the bracket, CLICK HERE.

All Class 3A State Tournament games involving Ellsworth will air on Classic Hits 107.9 KZRS and online at KRSL.com as well as streaming on Alexa devices.