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Ê ELLSWORTH - Coach Tex Drenth had a bunch of unselfish players on the Ellsworth boys basketball team this season, many of whom were returning veterans off the 2007 Northern Lakes Conference championship squad.

He emphasized that a team can't truly enjoy success unless it doesn't care who scores the points, as long as the team wins in the end.

That the Lancers accepted that premise, and it led to their second straight league title - and the notion Ellsworth may just have a budding dynasty brewing.

But, while they embraced Drenth's philosophy of teamwork and willingness to sacrifice their own scoring for that of the team's success, two players stood out above the rest.

Jarod Steenwyk and Jared Danbert were so talented that even though they were among the team assist leaders they still produced the kind of offensive numbers that drew the attention of the coaches when it came time to vote on the All-Northern Lakes Conference honor teams.

It wasn't only their scoring that earned them spots on the All-League First Team, although their averages were clearly among the conference's elite.

When they weren't scoring, the pair were rifling crisp passes to their more open teammates, and crashing the boards for key offensive and defensive rebounds.

They didn't neglect the defense, either, helping the Lancers keep their opponents from generating serious threats in the big games.

Danbert led the Lancers with 15 points per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor, and he also contributed 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.5 steals.

"His consistency all season really was key for us," Drenth said. "We could count on him to make the big basket, or steal or assist when we needed it."

Steenwyk averaged 11.5 points a game, hauled down 5.5 rebounds, passed off for 6 assists and had 4 steals a game on defense.

As the Lancers' point guard, it was his responsibility to direct the offense and settle the team down when things were going bad.

"Those were the kind of numbers you look for out of your point guard," Drenth said. "One thing about our team this year ... it was unselfish.

"Sometimes, we'd almost over-pass because the kids were so unselfish. It's hard to find kids who like to play like that. It's tough to teach.

"You are that way, or you're not."

Drenth often had to force his players to take more shots, giving them direct orders to put the ball up instead of looking to pass off.

But it was a nice predicament to have.

Tyler Ingalls was named to the Second Team after averaging 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He was another key player for the Lancers.

"We had other kids who stepped up and played their roles in a big way," Drenth said.

"Even though we had only two kids average in double figures, we scored almost 70 points a game. That tells you that we had great balance among the others."

In fact, four other Lancers all averaged 8 points each.

"That says a lot about our team," Drenth said. "You couldn't focus on just one kid, or even two. That would leave somebody else open, and if we got them the ball ... which we often did ... they could score.

"Somebody always stepped up for us, every night."

Nolan Howes and Nathan Peterson settled into their roles, and were willing to do whatever was needed for the team to win.

It was a group Drenth won't soon forget.

"They were great kids," the coach said. "Right to the ninth guy. We just had a great year. I had a lot of fun coaching them."

Danbert, who is just a sophomore with two years left in his high school career, also received Honorable Mention in the Associated Press All-State poll.

Ellsworth went on a five-game winning streak to end the season, locking up its second straight league title and entering the tournament with a lot of momentum.

Unfortunately, the Lancers failed to advance out of the district.

Drenth says the Lancers have set their goals even higher for next season.

"We want to make a run in the state tournament," Drenth said. "We haven't done that in a long time."