The Ellsworth Bearcats came up short after a nail-biting, double- overtime game Feb. 17 against the Bennington Bulldogs, 56-53.

While the Cats started strong, the second half was neck-and-neck.

The Bulldogs came out of the gate in a man-to-man defense, while the Cats decided to come out in a 2-3 zone. Starting off strong, Ellsworth quickly put 18 points on the board and ended the first quarter 18-8.

At the half, the Cats still led the game 24-18.

The Bulldogs got back in the game after halftime, scoring 16 points in the third quarter and ending it with a score of 34-34.

Throughout the fourth quarter, both teams kept tying the score, making time the teams’ biggest enemy. As the fourth quarter was almost over, the Cats knew how important each possession was and tried to take advantage. With very little time on the clock, the Cats ran a play, trying to get an opportunity for an open shot.

The Bulldogs put pressure on all of the Ellsworth players making it difficult to get open, forcing the Cats to shoot a contested shot. When the buzzer went off to end the fourth quarter, the score was tied 46-46.

Going into overtime, the crowd was full of energy and ready for another four minutes on the clock. Throughout that four minutes, both teams scored and tied again at 53-53.

The Cats went into double overtime with another 4 minutes on the clock. The gym was exhilarated, cheering for their teams more than before. The Cats ended up losing to a last-second Bulldog 3-point shot to win the game. The final score after double overtime was 56-53.

“Every possession in OT is critical,” Head Coach Brett Rolfs said. “Our main focus was to try to be as efficient as possible on offense, knowing there wouldn’t be very many possessions.”

Will Cravens led the team with an impressive 34 points for the night, while Riley Stone had 14, Lane Rolfs 3 and Cooper McGowan 2.

“I thought we played with great energy,” Cravens said. “I’m proud that we kept the energy, even going into double overtime. You’re tired and your body is tired, but we kept playing hard.”

Ellsworth vs. Southeast of Saline

The Ellsworth Bearcats hosted a home game against the Southeast of Saline Trojans Feb. 14. Southeast started strong, only letting the Cats put 3 points on the board, ending the first quarter 20-3.

In the second quarter, the Cats stayed in a 2-3 zone defense while the Trojans continued to play man-to-man. The Trojans continued to push the ball, ending the second quarter in their favor, 34-15.

After halftime, the Trojans continued to put pressure on the Cats, causing turnovers throughout the game. With the Trojans still up, the third quarter ended 49-30.

During the fourth quarter, the Cats decide to switch up their defense and go to man-to-man to put pressure on the Trojans and try to get more possessions. The Cats couldn’t catch up though, ending the fourth quarter with a 63-41 loss.

“Every game is important at this point in the season,” Layton Leiker said. “Losing is tough, but we have to finish out the regular season strong and start with a 0-0 record mindset once substate starts.

“I think our communication could definitely improve, but I think the main reason for the loss was that they were shooting the ball much better than we were and they executed better.”

“Our goal was to take better care of the ball than we did in the first game with them,” Head Coach Brett Rolfs said. “We succeeded with five less turnovers, but our inability to knock down shots in the first half dug us a big hole.”