BY BUDDY TABLER

Special to the Tribune

LARNED – Ellsworth’s Will Cravens drilled six 3-point baskets en route to 34 points as the tall and talented Bearcats used stifling man-to-man defense to roll past Larned 63-24 Tuesday. The 6-3 Cravens passed the 1,000-point career scoring mark. The Bearcats made 22 of 40 shots (55%) and 11 free throws.

The Bearcats (6-1) forced Larned into eight first-quarter turnovers and raced to a 16-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ellsworth led 33-4 at halftime. Larned made 1 of 14 field goals. Ellsworth was displaying an inside-outside game that was burning the nets. Cravens knocked down 3-pointers, threw down slam dunks and showed off nifty inside moves. Ben Hipp added eight points.

Larned attacked in the paint better which led to open 3-point looks for guard Carson Shaver. Ellsworth led 56-18 after three quarters, leading to a running clock. Larned committed 22 turnovers.

Shaver scored 13 points with a trio of 3-pointers. Larned converted 3-of-3 free throws. The Indians made 9 of 32 field goal attempts (28%). Cade Colglazier scored seven points. 

Ellsworth 16 17 23 7 — 63

Larned 0 4 14 6 — 24

ELLSWORTH (6-1)—Cravens 11 4-5 34, Hipp 3 2-2 8, Rolfs 2 0-0 5, Tully 1 0-0 2, Leiker 1 2-4 5, McGowan 1 3-6 5, Stone 3 0-2 6, Totals 22-40 11-19 63.

LARNED (1-6)—Shaver 5 0-0 13, Colglazier 3 1-1 7, Smith 1 0-0 2, Regan 1 0-0 2, Totals 9-28 3-3 24.

3-pointers—E 8 (Cravens 6, Rolfs 1, Leiker 1); L 3 (Shaver 3)