Ellsworth's late rally falls short

BY DENNIS CHASE
dchase@record-eagle.com

March 25, 2009 12:00 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- Even with his team facing a 24-point deficit early in the third quarter of Tuesday night's Class D quarterfinal here, Ellsworth basketball coach Tex Drenth knew it wasn't over.

His players told him so -- without saying a word.

"I looked in their eyes and I could tell, they're not going to quit," he said.

Drenth was right.

The Lancers put together a stirring second half rally -- taking the defending state champion Muskegon West Michigan Christian Warriors to the wire -- before losing 75-70.

On three occasions, Ellsworth, which finished 24-1, had the ball down three with a chance to tie it in the final 1:17.

"I'm so proud of my team," Drenth said. "The effort was just incredible. We talked about leaving everything on the floor and they did.

"There's no quit in these guys," he added. "It doesn't even have to be basketball. We could be playing a game of chess or checkers and if they're down they're not going to quit. They're going to come back and get you, one way or another.

"And to come back against a team like that, the defending state champ, and to have a shot at the end, what more can you ask for?"

Drenth's counterpart, Warriors coach Jim Goorman looked relieved afterwards.

"Oh my gosh, what a team," he said. "You've got to be proud of Ellsworth. That's a tough way to lose. Give Ellsworth all the credit in the world. They are fighters. They never gave up. They hit the open shot. The only thing they didn't do, that we did, was hit free throws. If they hit their free throws, we wouldn't be smiling right now."

The Lancers missed five free throws in the fourth quarter, three coming on the front end of one-and-ones.

Drenth attributed that to fatigue, since his starters played virtually the entire game.

"Absolutely," he said. "I know they were gassed. They had to be. And the first place that's going to show is with your shot."

West Michigan Christian, now 22-4, closed out the first half on a 19-3 run to turn a 30-30 deadlock into a 49-33 advantage. The Warriors shot a blistering 69 percent from the field.

"I thought we were playing the Spartans there that first half, the way they were hitting their shots," Drenth said.

West Michigan Christian then scored the first eight points of the second half to extend its lead to 57-33. That's when the Lancers went to a half-court trap and got back in the game.

"It got us out sync," Goorman said. "We didn't attack it the way we should have."

And the Lancers capitalized.

"It forced them into taking bad shots," Drenth said. "And lo and behold it got our offense going."

In the first half, Jarod Steenwyk and Jared Danbert accounted for 29 of Ellsworth's 33 points. Steenwyk put on a shooting clinic, hitting five 3-pointers. He had 13 in the first quarter.

The Warriors were able to eventually slow him down, but All-State forward Tyler Ingalls picked it up in the second half. Ingalls scored all 18 of his points in the final 16 minutes.

Danbert finished with a game-high 24 points. Steenwyk added 22.

Danbert's basket with 1:33 to go cut the deficit to 72-69. The Warriors then turned the ball over with 1:17 left. Ingalls drew a foul 17 seconds later and hit one of two free throws to make it 72-70.

The Lancers fouled Christian's Jeff Burris with 42.6 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Ellsworth could not control the rebound. Ellsworth fouled Burris again with 24.9 seconds showing and he hit his first attempt, but missed the second to give Ellsworth a chance to tie. Ingalls misfired on a 3-point attempt and the Lancers quickly fouled DeMario Harris with 9.1 seconds remaining. He missed, the Lancers rebounded with another chance to tie, but they threw it away.

Christian's Elliott Vanderlaan then sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 1.6 seconds to go.

The Warriors lost their two big men, 6-5 Evan Bruinsma and 6-7 Tyler Ray, to fouls late in the game. Bruinsma, who led Christian with 23 points, fouled out with 2:02 to go. Ray exited a minute later.

"We've had so many close games (all year)," Goorman said. "We've had five games that we won in overtime or in the last five seconds. Our kids have been there. But it was a totally different venue tonight. You've got screaming people right behind you. I thought our kids, for the most part, kept their heads. And in the end, with our make(shift) lineup, we were able pull it out by the skin of our teeth. I'm proud of our kids, but Ellsworth has got to be really proud, too. They've had a fantastic year."

Drenth agreed.

"I could coach another 50 years and never have a group come through like this again," he said. "There are kids out there, but I don't know if they've got the work ethic that this group had. Our seniors spent so much time in the gym in the off-season. Their work ethic is incredible.

"I hope some of the younger kids coming up can see what they did and how they took care of themselves, not only on the court but off the court in the way they conduct themselves. I'm not just talking about good basketball players. I'm talking about good kids. Our grade point average as a team is 3.6. None of these kids are ever going to bring home a pay check playing basketball, but I'll tell you, they are going to be successful kids down the road and that's what we're shooting for."

In addition to Bruinsma's 23 points, London Burris scored 20 and Darien Burse 12 for the Warriors, who will play Sterling Heights Parkway Christian in the semifinals on Thursday night.

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