By John RittenhouseThe problem with labels is they can often by misleading.Take Ellsworth senior Ben Herman, for instance.Herman is listed as a 6-4 center on every game program, which is the same way he is introduced by public address announcers as a member of the starting five for the EHS boys’ basketball team.In Herman’s case, he’s more versatile than your ordinary post who can play with their backs to the basket. Herman, however, can be equally as dangerous when he steps out to the perimeter and casts up shots usually reserved for guards and the occasional forward on most teams.Late in Thursday’s Section 3A championship game between EHS and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Herman put his multi-dimensional offensive talents to good use.During the final 1:39 of the game, Herman scored eight of his 16 points to help the Panthers complete a remarkable comeback and force two-time defending state champion R-T-R to play an overtime session.When Ellsworth outscored the Knights 8-5 in overtime, the Panthers found themselves on the winning end of an 83-80 decision that will send EHS to its second state tournament appearance in the history of the school."I’m a post now, but I’ve played wing in the past," Herman said after Thursday’s win. "I can hit the three."Herman actually hit two threes in the final 27 seconds of regulation play, including the game-tying bomb right before the buzzer sounded to end regulation play. It was that clutch shot that completed an astounding rally in which the Panthers erased an 18-point deficit in the final 3:35 of regulation play, sending the game to overtime."We got off to a slow start in this game, but I knew we wouldn’t give up. We all felt we could come back against them, and we did," Herman added.If the Panthers truly believed they could erase what stood as a 61-43 deficit with 3:35 left to play, they probably were the only ones inside the Southwest State University gymnasium thinking that way.The way R-T-R controlled play during the first 32 minutes of regulation play, there was no indication that its quest to win three straight Section 3A championships was about to be derailed.The Knights scored five straight points before the game was one minute old, and they led 8-2 when guard Brett Newton hit a three-point shot on the way to a 42-point effort to give R-T-R an 8-2 cushion at 16:24 of the opening half.Cody Schilling, who turned in a 39-point, 11-rebound, seven-assist effort for the Panthers, knotted the score at eight with a three-point play at the 15:08 mark.R-T-R countered with a 13-0 run to lead 21-8 before Newton came up with a steal that resulted in a break-away layup at 9:41 to give the Knights an 18-point (30-12) advantage.The Panthers did trim the difference to 11 (34-23) when Herman scored with 5:24 remaining, but R-T-R outscored EHS 5-3 the rest of the half to lead 39-26 at the intermission.After R-T-R scored the first two points of the second half, Ellsworth reeled off nine straight points and trailed 41-35 when Panther senior Bryan Kramer hit a field goal at the 13:13 mark.The Knights scored the next eight points to lead 50-35, and they sported a 17-point cushion (60-43) when Newton drained one free throw with 3:35 left to make it a 61-43 game.While the situation appeared to be dim for the Panthers at that point, EHS coach Markus Okeson was feeling a different sensation."We called a timeout when we were down by 18, and I couldn’t believe the fire these kids showed when we broke the huddle. It was amazing. There was never anything said about quitting," stated the coach.Schilling scored eight consecutive points between the 2:45 and 1:47 marks of the second half to draw the Panthers within nine points (66-47) of the Knights, and Kramer buried a three with 41 seconds left to make it a four-point (70-66).Herman’s first three-pointer of the game with 27 seconds left trimmed the difference to three points (72-69), and another by Aaron Van Der Stoep with 11 seconds left closed the gap to one point at 73-72.Newton was fouled with 8.2 seconds remaining, and the senior calmly drained a pair of free throws to give the Knights a 75-72 advantage.Schilling received the ensuing in-bound pass and dribbled the ball into R-T-R’s end of the court, where he passed the ball to an open Herman at the top of the key. Herman’s three-point attempt, which left his hand just before time expired, found the mark to tie the game."I could see Travis Schutltz (R-T-R’s senior post) coming at me, and he had his hand up. I thought I had to shoot the ball a little higher to get it over his hand. I did that, and it went in," Herman explained.After R-T-R scored the first point in overtime, Schilling gave the Panthers their first lead of the night (77-76) when he hit a field goal at 3:18.The Knights scored the next four points to move in front 80-77 with 1:35 remaining, but Schilling sank two free throws with 1:21 before Travis Chapa, who entered the game when Bryan Kramer fouled out with 2:19 left to play, turned an offensive rebound into the go-ahead basket (81-10) with 29 seconds left to play.R-T-R called time out with 27.2 seconds left to set up a potential game-winning shot. Knights’ Kyle Minett and Zach Sorenson put up one shot each as time was winding down, and Schilling came down with the rebound on the second miss, drawing a foul with .08 remaining. Schilling knocked down both free throws, and EHS junior Weston DeBerg intercepted R-T-R’s ensuing in-bound pass to end the game.About 20 minutes after the win, Okeson spoke with honesty when asked if he’s ever seen a comeback like the one his Panthers produced in the final 3:35 of regulation."Not in my lifetime. It seemed like we were hitting threes, and they were getting one or two points with every possession. All of a sudden we’re in overtime, and Travis Chapa hits a big shot to give us the lead. It was just amazing," Okeson said."If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would be playing in Williams Arena in March, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m very proud of these guys."Box scoreDeBerg 2 0 0-0 4, Detusch 0 0 0-1 0, Kramer 2 1 0-0 7, Schilling 12 2 9-11 39, Van Der Stoep 0 5 0-0 15, Herman 5 2 0-0 16, Klaassen 0 0 0-0 0, Chapa 1 0 0-0 2.Team statisticsEllsworth: 32 of 56 field goals (57 percent), nine of 12 free throws (75 percent), 26 rebounds, 19 turnovers.R-T-R: 27 of 51 field goals (53 percent), 21 of 29 free throws (72 percent), 28 rebounds, 11 turnovers.