Wellsville's 4th Quarter Rally Seals Ellsworth's Fate at State
HUTCHINSON-Kenyon Gillins scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the second half as Wellsville overcame a second half deficit to defeat Ellsworth 48-38 Wednesday in the KSHSAA Class 3A Boys State Quarterfinals at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
#5 seed Ellsworth used a 6-0 run to surge to an 8-4 lead in the first quarter before the Eagles closed the period with a 6-0 run of their own to lead 10-8. In the second quarter, #4 seed Wellsville benefitted from a series of Bearcat turnovers to grab a 22-12 lead with the opportunity to run away with the game but Ellsworth stormed back with the final nine points of the half to trail just 22-21 at intermission.
A basket by Will Cravens gave the Bearcats the lead in the third period which was as large as four points and Ellsworth remained in front 35-32 heading to the final period. However, in the fourth quarter, turnovers and fouls haunted the Bearcats as Wellsville outscored them 16-3 on their way to a state semifinal showdown with top seed Beloit which took down #8 seed Topeka Hayden 56-42 earlier Wednesday.
Joining Gillins in double figures for Wellsville (21-3) was Calvin Dwyer with 14 points. Riley Stone paced Ellsworth (19-5) with 16 points while Cravens chipped in with 13 points. The Bearcats were making their first appearance at a State Basketball tournament since a third place finish in 1991.
Shooting woes hampered Ellsworth which shot just under 32 percent from the floor and the Bearcats made just four of 19 three-point attempts. Wellsville outrebounded Ellsworth 28-27 even though the Bearcats held an 8-6 edge on the offensive glass.
Wednesday's State Tournament game was the last in an Ellsworth uniform for seniors, Craven, Stone, Lane Rolfs, Jacob Togersen, Layton Leiker and Ben Hipp.