Rice Lake's Wally Ellenson knew he was going to get the ball with the game on the line.  So did St. Cloud Apollo.  It didn't matter.

With three defenders in his face, Ellenson hit an off-balance, buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Rice Lake (11-5, No. 14 DII) a thrilling 66-63 victory over Apollo (11-4, No. 6 AAA) in the 5th annual Border Battle at St. Cloud Tech High School Saturday night.

"I wasn't open right away, but I heard the bench count down, so I just turned around and shot it," said Ellenson, who claimed he practices that shot in his driveway during the summer.

After a time out, Rice Lake coach Kevin Orr set up a play to get the ball in Ellenson's hands.  Apollo defended it well, forcing Ellenson to dribble outside the arc to try to find his shot.  As the fans counted down 3...2...1...Ellenson muscled up a leaning three-pointer. 

When it hit nothing but net, the Rice Lake bench erupted with cheers, surrounding Ellenson as he held up his index finger.

"He made a big time shot," said Orr.  "That's the type of kid he is.  He's a gamer.  He's a winner.  He wants the ball in his hands."

Ellenson led the way for the Warriors with 25 points, while senior guard Taylor West was the only other player in double figures with 12.

Apollo was paced by the big front court duo of Simon Krych (23 points) and Blake Maslonkowski (13), each of whom is headed to the University of Mary.  Orr knew stopping the Eagles' front line would be key, but that was easier said than done.

"We knew that they had some size," said Orr.  "But we had to learn to make adjustments to what they were doing."

Wally Ellenson, Rice Lake
Ellenson, a 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward, showed off an impressive offensive aresenal along with tough, hard-nosed defense in Rice Lake's 66-63 victory over St. Cloud Apollo.  The heavily-recruited junior scored on a variety of moves, both power post moves and from the perimeter on his way to a game-high 25 points.  Ellenson showed range to his far out as 20 feet or more -- important as he hit an off-balance trey from that spot at the buzzer to win the game.

St. Cloud Apollo: Krych 23, Bl. Maslonkowski 13, Br. Maslonkowski 12, Abukar 9, Steve 4, Tesch 2.

Rice Lake: W. Ellenson 25, T. West 12, A. West 6, Cuskey 6, Terrell 6, E. Ellenson 5, Shervey 4, Elza 2.

Photos from this event can be ordered from http://photo21.dotphoto.com
Please check back tomorrow for galleries on that site, or contact Tim at tim@BreakdownSportsUSA.com