Ellsworth Boys Beat MDI 71-69 on Buzzer Beater [STATS & PHOTOS]

In front of a nearly sold-out Katsiaficas Gymnasium, the Ellsworth and MDI Boys Basketball Teams put on a display of great basketball and sportsmanship. Ellsworth won the game 71-69 on a Colby Eaton put-back in the last game of the regular season for both teams.

The game was meaningless as far as the standings, as MDI was certain of going into the Tournament 4th, and Ellsworth 5th, but you wouldn't have known that based on the crowd, and the efforts of the teams. The crowd was as large of a crowd I've seen at a regular season game in years, and was reminiscent of pre-Covid games between these 2 Hancock County rivals.

The game started with and uncontested jump-ball between Joe McNeill for Ellsworth and Kenneth Stillwell for MDI. McNeill won the tip and the ball was passed down to Dawson Curtis who was stationed under the basket. Curtis who has missed the last 2 weeks of the regular season because of a lower leg injury, and playing in his last regular season game made the shot. MDI's James Witham then made an uncontested layup to make the score 2-2. Ellsworth then intentionally threw the ball out of bounds to MDI Coach Norwood so they could make a substitution for Curtis.

MDI led 23-15 at the end of the 1st Quarter. Dylan Stoll had 8 points, with 2 3-pointers and Lincoln Gray had 7 points for the Trojans. Bryce Hart had 6 points on 2 3-pointers. for Ellsworth.

MDI extended their lead in the 2nd Quarter, outscoring Ellsworth 19-13 to lead 42-28 at the end of the 1st Half. Witham had 8 points for MDI while Jackson Barry and Colby Eaton each had 5 points for the Eagles.

Ellsworth cut the lead to 10 points at the end of the 3rd Quarter, 59-49, outscoring MDI 21-17. Jackson Barrry had 8 points in the paint for Ellsworth and Hart had 8 points, with 2 more 3-pointers for the Eagles. Lincoln Gray had 9 points with a 3-pointer for MDI.

With just seconds left to play in the 4th Quarter, and the game tied at 69-69 Hart took the shot, and it was short. Colby Eaton was there and put the basketball off the glass as the buzzer sounded to give the Eagles the 71-69 win.

Ellsworth was led by Jackson Barry who had 22 points and 14 rebounds. Bryce Hart had a career-high 21 points with 5 3-pointers. Julian Savage and Eli Holler each had a 3-pointer. Ellsworth was 6-9 from the free throw line.

MDI was led by Lincoln Gray with a career high 20 points and a 3-pointer.James Witham had 18 points with 2 3-pointers. Dylan Stoll had 14 points with 3 3-pointers. Lyman Pinkham had a 3-pointer. MDI was 11-17 from the free throw line.

MDI finishes the season in 4th place with a 15-3 record.

Ellsworth finishes the season in 5th place with a 14-4 record.

The 2 teams will meet in the Quarterfinals in Tourney 2026 on Saturday, February 14th at 4 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. Tickets to that game may be purchased HERE. That game and every MDI and Ellsworth game will be broadcast on WDEA AM 1370, on WDEA Internet Radio, on our FREE downloadable APP and on any Alexa enabled device.

Here are the stats from the game

Line Score

Box Score

MDI

Ellsworth

Check out the photos from the game