I never subscribed to the philosophy of Hinduism before, but I’m now a firm believer in good karma.How else can I describe what I witnessed in the final minutes of regulation play during Thursday’s Section 3A championship game between Ellsworth and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.There had to be some guiding force that carried the Panthers from an 18-point deficit with 3:35 left to play into a three-point win over a team that won the last two state Class A titles.Why couldn’t it be good karma?I and many others were sharing the same thoughts during the course of the contest. It looked like the Panthers would meet a cruel fate most of the night.I thought the game was over when EHS fell behind 61-43 with less than four minutes remaining. And as I found out Sunday, so did EHS assistant coach Steve Kellen."I thought we might be able to make the final score respectable, but I did think 18 points was too many to overcome in that amount of time," he said.Then, as if there were a mysterious force hiding in the Southwest Minnesota State University gym that night, things started to fall in Ellsworth’s favor. And I mean the sky really opened up.EHS adopted the Hack-A-Shaq theory that many National Basketball Association teams used to implement against former Los Angeles Laker Shaquelle O’Neil, an overpowering center who struggles mightily at the charity stripe. The Panthers figured the only way to get back into the game was to send any R-T-R player with the ball to the free-throw line.The Knights made a lot of free throws in the final three minutes, more than enough to win most games, but not on this particular night. This was a cosmic type of night.While R-T-R was increasing its tally by one and two points at a time, the Ellsworth bunch were hitting three-point shots and converting three-point plays in bundles.When the smoke cleared from a torrid offensive display that featured EHS outscoring the Knights, the Panthers had outscored R-T-R 32-14 in a span of 215 seconds to force an overtime period.The magic continued for EHS in overtime, when it gained its first lead of the night 36:42 into the game before falling behind by three with 1:35 left.Then, after drawing within one point with two free throws, Ellsworth reserve Travis Chapa, who replaced Bryan Kramer late in the game when the senior fouled out, gained perfect rebounding position to corral a carom before scoring what proved to be the game-winning basket with 29 seconds left to play.It was a fitting end to a game filled with surprising twists and turns. It was a game EHS coach Markus Okeson still can’t believe his team won."It was unbelievable," he said.On second thought, there must have been more than good karma on the side of Ellsworth that night.After wracking my brain to come to grips with what it might have been, I finally figured it out.My revelation stems back to Feb. 7, after the Panthers defeated Hills-Beaver Creek in Ellsworth.After gathering the information I needed for my game story, I spotted Coach Okeson’s wife as I headed for the exit.Having met Mrs. Okeson in a social situation in late December, we exchanged pleasantries as our paths crossed once again."Hello, Mrs. Okeson," were the words that came out of my mouth.It was her reply that helped shed some light on why the Panthers were able to stage such an incredible comeback last Thursday.Mrs. Okeson, who has witnessed 28 of Ellsworth’s 30 games to date, stopped me in my tracks by simply stating her first name, which she preferred me to use when addressing her.What’s her name, you ask?Forgive the small difference in spellings (I sometimes read too much into situations), but what else could her name be."Destany," she said. "My name is Destany,"With good karma and Destany working in Ellsworth’s favor last Thursday, the R-T-R Knights didn’t have a chance.