By John RittenhouseAn Ellsworth High School senior cracked the roster of the 2005-06 South Camden Conference Girls’ All-Conference Basketball Team.Forward Amy Tiesler is Ellsworth’s lone selection to the 11-player squad.Minneota and Lincoln HI led all league teams by drawing three all-conference spots each.Making the team for Minneota are senior Ashley Hennen and juniors Hayley Hennen and Alyssa Buysse.LH seniors Brittany Barber, Tiffany Citterman and Jessica Tykwinski grace the roster.Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Tracy-Milroy-Balaton picked up two selections each to round out the squad.R-T-R’s seniors Casey Gifford and Nickel Lamote made the team. Gifford also was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.T-M-B seniors Emily Miller and Alyssa Kirk round out the roster.

By John RittenhouseA member of the Luverne High School girls’ hockey program received a prestigious award during the team’s annual postseason banquet last week.Senior Alison Brands was taken by surprise when she received the Hobey Baker High School Character Award from head coach Dave Siebenahler.Hobey Baker was the ultimate athlete of his time.He entered Princeton University in 1910 and was named the captain of the hockey and football teams during his college years.Baker was a unique sportsman who would visit the opposing team’s locker room and shake the hand of every single opponent after every game."This is an award that doesn’t necessarily go to the best athlete. It goes to the best all-around person," Siebenahler said."This award was developed to recognize and reward exemplary character and sportsmanship in our high school hockey players. Alison is one of those players who showed character and sportsmanship on and off the ice."Brands played only one year of hockey for Siebenahler, but she quickly earned his respect.The coach was so impressed with her work ethic in practice and with the respect she showed to her teammates and opponents, he decided to nominate Brands to the committee that selects the winners of the HBHSCA.Four days prior to the hockey banquet, Siebenahler received a plaque indicating that Brands received the award.Brands proved to be a key member of the LHS girls’ hockey team last season.After being persuaded to play the sport for the first time by classmate Chessa Ossefoort, Brands became the team’s top goalie.She was in the net for four of the five games LHS won last season. Brands blanked Worthington during one of the wins."She came on pretty strong as a goalie," Siebenahler said."She did a great job. It’s too bad we have to lose her after playing for one season."

By John RittenhouseWhen it comes to tournament basketball, success, more times than not, stems from the way the leaders of the team play.Ellsworth High School relied on a pair of underclassmen (junior Aaron Van Der Stoep and sophomore Cody Schilling) to get to the South Section 3A Basketball Tournament title game against Fulda at Southwest State University in Marshall.On Saturday, a combined 38-point effort from Van Der Stoep and Schilling wasn’t enough to give the Panthers their third South Section 3A title in the last four years. The underclassmen made their contributions, but it was the second-half play of seniors Bryan Kramer, Ben Herman and Nick Deutsch that led the Panthers to a 78-67 victory over the Raiders.Ellsworth, which trailed by as many as seven points twice in the game’s second half, needed more than two people to step up if it wanted to rally in the game’s final 10 minutes and extend the season.Kramer, Herman and Deutsch accepted the challenge.Kramer and Herman netted nine points each in the game’s final 18 minutes, including all nine of the points in a run that gave EHS its first lead of the game.Deutsch, who netted five second-half points of his own, came off the bench to give EHS an important boost on the defensive side of the court.With the three seniors leading the way, EHS was able to outscore Fulda 36-18 in the final 10:42 of the game to send EHS to tonight’s Section 3A title game at 8 p.m. tonight at SSU."Our seniors really stepped up big for us in the second half," said Panther coach Markus Okeson. "It was nice to have their leadership."Ellsworth, which trailed 34-31 at halftime, pulled within one point (34-33) when Weston DeBerg converted an offensive rebound into a field goal 24 seconds into the second stanza.Fulda, however, countered with an 8-3 spurt to lead 42-35 at the 14:33 mark. The Raiders still led by seven (49-42) with 10:42 remaining, but the Panthers moved in front (51-49) when Herman drained a three-point shot and Kramer hit back-to-back threes to give EHS its first lead with 8:10 left to play."I was just getting open against their zone (defense), Kramer said. "I just wanted to slow it down, be calm and get good shots off."Fulda regained the lead at 52-51 with 7:57 left before Schilling put EHS in front to stay (53-52) with two of his 19 points 17 seconds later.Schilling’s hoop ignited an 18-5 run that ended with Herman draining a field goal with 2:29 remaining, giving the Panthers a 69-57 advantage.Fulda drew within seven points (74-67) with less than one minute remaining, but DeBerg iced the contest by sinking four consecutive free throws in the final 26 seconds.The Panthers appeared to be in trouble early when Fulda scored the first seven points of the game on the way to opening a 14-3 lead at the 13:38 mark of the first half.Ellsworth trimmed the difference to one point (21-20) when Herman hit a shot in the paint with 7:34 remaining, and the score was tied at 30 when Kramer drained a field goal at 3:08.Fulda fought back to sport a 34-21 lead at the intermission."It was crazy," Kramer recalled. "They were making all of their shots, and I didn’t know what to think. They were hitting everything, and they were outrebounding us in the first half."Okeson agreed with Kramer’s assessment of the first 18 minutes."They made their shots and we missed ours. We didn’t do a good job of boxing out, but we firmed that up a little bit in the second half," the coach added. "We started to hit some of our open shots in the second half, breaking them out of their zone."Schilling and Van Der Stoep netted 19 points each, and Schilling pulled down a team-high 17 rebounds. Kramer scored 16 points and snared nine rebounds. Herman scored 12 points, and Deutsch charted five assists.By winning the South title, Ellsworth earns the right to face two-time defending state champion Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the Section 3A title game.The Knights, who rolled to a convincing win over Lakeview in Saturday’s North championship game, have split games against EHS this season.Kramer and the Panthers will not be intimidated by R-T-R. In fact, playing a third game against the Knights is the match-up they wanted."I want to play R-T-R. I think we can beat them," Kramer concluded.Box scoreDeBerg 1 0 4-4 6, Deutsch 1 0 3-4 5, Kramer 2 4 0-2 16, Van Der Stoep 1 4 5-6 19, Herman 4 1 1-3 12, Lindemann 0 0 0-0 0, Chapa 0 0 0-0 0, Jansea 0 0 1-2 1, Klaassen 0 0 0-0 0, Matejeske 0 0 0-0 0, Nolte 0 0 0-0 0, Schilling 7 0 5-9 19.Team statisticsEllsworth: 25 of 48 field goals (52 percent), 19 of 30 free throws (63 percent), 42 rebounds, 16 turnovers.Fulda: 25 of 61 field goals (41 percent), nine of 20 free throws (45 percent), 32 rebounds, 13 turnovers.

By John RittenhouseAs the lone returning starter from last year’s Luverne High School basketball team that placed third at the state tournament, senior Nick Heronimus knows what it takes to be successful at tournament time.If a team plays good defense, according to Heronimus, it has a good chance to win postseason games.Heronimus and his Cardinal teammates proved how important defense can be during Saturday’s South Section 3AA championship game against Windom.An impressive defensive stand late in the game enabled LHS to pull out a 44-39 victory over the Eagles at Southwest State University in Marshall."Defense wins championships," said Heronimus, who didn’t seem to be surprised to learn that his team didn’t yield a single point in the final 8:39 of the game."We played good defense last year, and we’ve brought a little bit of defense back this season. Our defense was the key today."Without a doubt, Luverne’s defense was the key.The Cardinals, who limited Windom to 34 percent shooting from the floor, came up big on defense when it counted the most.Windom led 39-30 after converting a field goal with 8:39 left to play, but those would be the last two points the Eagles would score this season. LHS blanked WHS the rest of the night while putting together a 14-0 run that gave the Cards their second straight South Section 3AA crown."We found a way to win when we were on the ropes," said Cardinal coach Tom Rops. "We picked up the intensity on defense in the final eight and-a-half minutes, made some big baskets and made some key stops."Heronimus, who finished the game with six rebounds, four assists and three steals, tied the game at 26 when he converted a field goal 42 seconds into the second half.Windom countered with a 13-4 run to gain its biggest lead of the game (39-30) at the 8:39 mark, but the Cardinals didn’t panic.Heronimus and Marc Boelman drained two field goals each to knot the score at 39 with 2:38 left in regulation play.The score remained tied until the 30-second mark, when Heronimus scored at the end of a determined drive to the basket to give LHS a 41-39 edge.Heronimus came up with a key steal and was fouled moments later, and he hit one free throw with 17.8 seconds remaining, capping a 14-point effort and giving the Cards a three-point (42-39) cushion.When Windom missed a potential game-tying three-point shot, Luverne sophomore reserve Weston Sawtelle was fouled in the process of trying to pick up the loose ball. Sawtelle then settled the issue by sinking a pair of charity shots with 4.4 seconds left."We knew we had enough time left, but I was getting a little nervous," said Heronimus, when sizing up the situation with 8:39 left to play."It wasn’t like we didn’t think we could come back, because we’ve scored a bunch of points in a row this season. It came down to (defensive) pressure at the end. We handled their pressure, and I don’t think Windom handled ours."Both teams had their moments in the game’s first half.Heronimus gave the Cards a 3-0 lead with a three-point shot 34 seconds into the game, and LHS led 13-10 when Derek Boeve netted two of his 13 points with 10:04 remaining.The Eagles countered with a 9-3 spurt to move in front 19-16, but the Cards regained the lead at 20-19 when Heronimus scored at 5:52.Windom scored the next five points to gain a 24-20 cushion before Luverne’s Boeve tied the game at 24 by scoring the last two points of the first half with 19 seconds remaining."Give Windom some credit for coming up with an excellent game plan," Rops said."They forced us to turn the ball over. Once we cleaned up the turnovers, we were able to get back into the game. We stuck with our game plan and were able to string enough plays together to get the win."Boeve, who scored 13 points, led the Cards with seven rebounds. Jake Hendricks added seven rebounds to the winning cause.By winning the South title, the Cardinals receive the opportunity to become the school’s third team to make back-to-back state tournament appearances (1935 and 1936, and 1964 and 1965) when they return to SSU tonight for the Section 3AA championship game.Luverne (20-6) plays Benson (21-4), a 68-63 victor against Montevideo in overtime Saturday, in a rematch of last year’s section title tilt.The Cards defeated the Braves 59-50 in last year’s championship game.Game time is 5 p.m. in Marshall.Box scoreBoelman 3 0 0-0 6, Hendricks 1 0 0-0 2, Clark 1 0 1-2 3, Sawtelle 2 0 2-2 6, Boeve 6 0 1-2 13, DeBoer 0 0 0-0 0, Heronimus 3 1 5-8 14.Team statisticsLuverne: 19 of 50 field goals (38 percent), five of eight free throws (63 percent), 33 rebounds, 17 turnovers.Windom: 17 of 50 field goals (34 percent), three of six free throws (50 percent), 24 rebounds, 12 turnovers.

GEP’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’If you are available this weekend or next, don’t forget to take in the Green Earth Players first Shakespeare production.GEP’s version of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" will be performed at the Palace Theatre the next two weekends.Curtain time for the play is 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.If you don’t already have your tickets, the Carnegie Cultural Center is serving as the box office.Ticket sales are now open to the public, and box office hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.For more information, call the Carnegie at 283-8294.St. Patrick’s Day ParadeThe 25th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be this Friday, March 17.The celebration, which was originally organized by Don Cashin, has been run by Katie Connell Baustian for the past five years.This year’s royalty will include:
Grand Marshal: Mike Cronin
Grand Marshalette: Meg Connell Nelson
Queen of Leprechauns; Sandy Sietsema
King of Leprechauns: Brian Sietsema
Junior Royalty: Charlie and Erin SietsemaEveryone is encouraged to participate in the parade. If you are so inclined, gather at the Sears parking lot at 3:30 p.m. this Friday. Parade time will be at 4 p.m.Something to consider: After five years of organizing the parade, Katie is thinking about turning the project over to someone else. If you would like to consider being the parade organizer for 2007, let her know.AgStar announces scholarship programAgStar announced it will again give away $1,000 scholarships to ten high school seniors who plan to continue their education to pursue careers in agricultural or related fields.Applications will be accepted through April 1, 2006.Scholarships will be awarded to eligible seniors based on academic record, vocational promise, community service and leadership qualities.Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.Two scholarships will be awarded in each of AgStar’s five regions in Minnesota and Wisconsin.Applicants must be residents of one of the counties AgStar serves, which includes Rock County.Avoid the rush, get your gun safety training out of the way nowIf you will need classes to get your hunting permit, the DNR is encouraging hunters to sign up for classes now.Hunters can’t buy hunting licenses in Minnesota and many other states unless they have completed the training.According to Mike Hammer, DNR hunter education coordinator, "Now is the time to start planning for the fall by registering for a spring class today."In Minnesota, hunters born after Dec. 31, 1979, must complete a DNR firearms safety-training course or equivalent course from another state before purchasing a license for big or small game.According to Hammer, every year there are some hunters who don’t plan ahead and run out of time to take the necessary classes before hunting season starts.Since most of the volunteer instructors are also hunters, they want to have the classes they teach completed prior to the small game opener.If you would like to have more information about the availability of classes, you can contact the DNR at www.dnr.state,mn.us, or by calling 1-888-646-6367.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

Lent is a journey of preparation — of preparing oneself to truly give of oneself to others. We remember the giving of Christ to us for our salvation, and we want to remember that gift.A suggestion was made that instead of giving up something for the Lenten season, we should look for something that we could give that would be of help for another person.One person felt that it would be good to send an inexpensive gift to a friend to cheer her up. This was in spite of the fact that she was known for being a tightwad. When she entered the gift shop, she found everything too expensive. Then she noticed a glass vase that had been broken. She asked how much it was. Finding that she could buy it for almost nothing, she asked the store to send it. She figured that her friend would think it had been broken in transit, and she would get off super cheap. A few days later, she received this acknowledgement: "Thanks for the vase. It was so thoughtful of you to wrap each piece separately."If you are lucky enough to have some good friends, treat them with utmost care. Friendship is a precious gift. Be careful not to wrap the pieces separately. And may our giving be something of meaning, not just something that cost us very little.

Events in 1930The following items appeared in the Rock County Herald on March 7, 1930:A deal was consummated this week whereby Geo. Goettsch disposes of the business plant and building of the Luverne Bottling works on East Main street to O.D. Smith, who is to be given possession within the next few days. The new owner will give his personal attention to continuing the business. The Luverne Bottling works is one of the older business establishments of this city and has been conducted by Mr. Goettsch for the past twenty-nine years. His decision to sell was due mainly to the fact that his health necessitates a change of occupation and Mr. Goettsch expects to secure a new location where climatic conditions will prove more favorable. Mr. Smith has been a resident of this section for many years and has a wide acquaintance throughout the territory that he will seek to serve.Sixteen young ladies of the Luverne high school were guests of the Luverne business men’s club at the luncheon served Monday at the Manitou, in recognition of their exceptional achievements during the present season. These include the thirteen girls who make up the Luverne high school girls’ basketball team, the two coaches and also the winner in the dramatic division of the district declamatory contest. Members of the basketball team are the Misses Jessie Hagedorn, Virginia Jacobsen, Grace Enger, Barbara Bell, Mildred Campbell, Verna That, Evelyn Nesguthe, Helen Canfield, Janice Cohen, Dorothy Nolterieke, Louise Creeger, Mary Christensen and Margaret Eberlein; the coaches, Miss Gertrude Esser and Virginia Rohlf, and the winner in the declamatory contest, Miss Barbara Brown. No speaking program was carried out.Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

Sipping expresso, I sat accrossed from my friend at Barnes and Nobles. I said, "I could care less if I talk to her again, irregardless if she wants to talk to me."I can butcher proper English as much as anybody, but the above two paragraphs cover some of my pet peeves.People drink espresso (not expresso) at Barnes and Noble, which doesn’t end in an "s." People around here say "accrossed" so much that I’ve found myself slipping it in sentences in place of across.If you "could care less" that means you actually care. You should say, "could not care less," to illustrate that something is low on the scale of concern.And irregardless is just a misuse of the word regardless. The trouble with the English language is it’s not dead. It changes every year with new additions to the dictionary and slight usage alterations. For instance, it’s perfectly OK to split infinitives by some people’s judgment. I was once taught that you couldn’t start sentences with conjunctions, but I frequently capitalize an "and" or "but."I mentioned a few pet peeves of mine, knowing that I probably do someone else’s, especially when speaking.I end sentences with prepositions. I know the difference between who and whom, but I rarely say "whom" aloud. I say "me" when I should say "I," and I probably say "good" to describe a verb, when I really mean "well."I’ve even been known to invent adjectives when I’m upset. Just off the top of my head, I remember writing bail instead of bale, and I’m sure there are countless other little flips or flubs that I regret.It’s too bad we dumb down ourselves for the sake of sounding a certain way, rather than being correct. … It’s probably too bad, also, that students are taught differently these days. I didn’t have to do sentence diagramming like previous generations did, and I’m sure people younger than I am haven’t even heard of it.Wherever the English language is going, at least I can say I could care less about writing well.

If you are a high school basketball fan, these are glorious times.For the second straight year, two teams from the Star Herald coverage area will be playing in the Section 3A and Section 3AA championships at Southwest State University in Marshall tonight.The 20-6 Luverne Cardinals will be gunning for their second consecutive trip to the state tournament when they take on the 21-4 Benson Braves in the 3AA title game at 5 p.m.After winning its third South Section 3A championship in the last four years, the 25-4 Ellsworth Panthers will take on two-time defending state champion Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (26-2) at 8 p.m.Personally and professionally, I’m looking forward to witnessing both contests.How can you not admire Tom Rops and the Luverne Cardinals?When Rops took over the LHS boys’ program in 2000-01, winning basketball games wasn’t a common occurrence in Luverne.The Cardinals struggled during the first four years of Rops’ tenure, compiling a 21-73 record, but the coach took his lumps like a man.His patience paid off last year when the coach and his crew put LHS basketball back on the map by compiling a 21-9 record and placing third at the state tournament.Much to my surprise, the Cardinals have played their way to another 20-win season this year.I heard from many different sources that the 2005-06 LHS team will be better, on paper, than last year’s squad. I had trouble believing those bold statements. How could a program that relied heavily on the play of five seniors last season be a better team without them, I asked myself?Based on their on-court performance, the 2005-06 Cardinals proved they are a quality team.If they can beat the Braves in tonight’s championship game, this squad will go down in LHS lore as the third team to make back-to-back appearances in school history.The Ellsworth Panthers have put together an excellent season under the guidance of first-year head coach Markus Okeson.Okeson knew he was taking over a talented team when he was picked to replace Ken Kvaale, who resigned as the EHS head coach last spring.His feelings were solidified when the Panthers won their first 14 games of the season.Among the wins during the streak was a December victory over R-T-R, the team EHS needs to beat if it wants to earn the school’s second berth into the state tournament.R-T-R nipped the Panthers by one point when the teams met in Tyler in January, so tonight’s third meeting will serve as the rubber game of the series.The way I see it, this should be the most interesting night of the winter sports season. It will be a celebration of area talent, and everyone is welcome to honor the local boys by attending tonight’s double-header in Marshall.Bantam B-goodI also would like to wish the Luverne Bantam B hockey team the best of luck when it plays at the Minnesota Bantam B State Hockey Tournament in Buffalo Friday through Sunday.This team, which sports a 32-3 record, has been the Luverne hockey program’s most successful squad this winter.This is the first Luverne Bantam team to qualify for state competition.Luverne opens the tournament with a 2 p.m. Friday clash against Chaska.