The Ellsworth Panthers went 2-0 this week, winning against Turtle Lake 60-26 on Tuesday at home and on the road against the Osceola Chieftains on Friday by a score of 55-50.

The Panthers have been on fire lately, winning their fourth game in a row with their narrow victory over Middle Border opponent Osceola. The Chieftains are 0-5 in the conference, yes, but they lost by less than six points against two first-place teams in Baldwin-Woodville and Ellsworth.

The game started fast for the Panthers with multiple highlight reel plays from star point guard Molly Janke. It was tied at 2-2 when she moved up and open-hand blocked a Chieftain shot under the basket to keep two points off the board. Less than 2:00 later, the Panthers found themselves down by six when Janke put up a big shot from way downtown that ping ponged of the backboard, hitting the rim, going back off the board and finally in to tighten the score to 8-5 in the early goings.

The Panthers continued surging, going on a 15-1 run that was punctuated by a pass-in assist from Janke to Brown who immediately hit the jump shot from the corner for three.

As Osceola pushed back, small forward Morgan Halverson forced a turnover on some tight coverage in their D-zone that resulted in Janke having a shot at a steal which she turned into a fastbreak for two more to go up 20-13. Halverson kept up the solid defense, getting a block that resulted in a Chieftain turnover and put the Panthers right back on the offensive.

The second half had the Chieftains almost completely caught up at 27-24 early on, but Emma Brown came through from the right corner of the key for three more to put the lead back at six. Another Halverson block and more three-point magic from Brown got that lead out to 11, but it was a cat and mouse game throughout the back half of the second period.

With 2:30 left to go, it was a two-score game at 51-46. Halverson continued her strong defensive performance, garnering another block from under the net to keep points off the board when it mattered most. The Panthers finished strong too, going shot for shot with the Chieftains right down to the buzzer and won by five at 55-50.

With this divisional victory, the Panthers move into a three-way tie at the top of the Middle Border Conference with Baldwin-Woodville and the Prescott Cardinals, who have won it four years running. This tie will come to an end next week as Ellsworth will host the Cardinals on Friday at 7 p.m., making this the biggest game of the season for your first-place Panthers.

Head Coach Jason Janke says they’re going to have to work hard to contend with a strong team like Prescott.

“The winner of this game obviously takes the upper hand in conference play, as there is only one game left on the ‘first round’ of conference play, before the ‘second half’ begins. It'd be nice to get the win and stay in control of your own destiny,” Janke said. “We're going to go out and defend as well as we can and hope some shots are dropping on Friday night.”

Prescott

The Prescott Cardinals defeated the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks in Prescott on Friday night by a score of 44-37.

It was a big win for the four-time champs who were able to knock the Blackhawks out of first place and back into a three-way tie with themselves and Ellsworth.

Baldwin won the tip off, but it was Violet Otto who struck first, getting the Cardinals started right. Avery Pattridge also came up with consecutive field goals to stake a 6-2 lead early.

It was mostly a defensive period for both squads, but two from the line by Otto and two from the field off a Lila Posthuma jump shot got Prescott an 11-6 lead as the midpoint approached.

Baldwin started to push back, but a contested layup and a nonchalant deep shot from Posthuma increased the lead to six with 6:45 to go in the first. The defensive battle continued as the minutes wound off the clock; however, a smooth play by Posthuma to Rory Zuehlsdorf on the perimeter and back to Posthuma who moved inside got them a couple more.

Baldwin wouldn’t stay down though. They came back to score five unanswered, and the Cardinals went into the half up by just three at 20-17.

The game got even closer coming into the second period as the Blackhawks drew first blood.

Prescott answered back with interest as Posthuma hit a beauty of a jump shot for two to keep the status quo, and then some nice footwork under the basket by Leah French and Otto got them a layup to put the lead back at five. A three by Posthuma finished the 9-2 run by Prescott, and all with just 3:00 off the clock after a first half where no baskets came quick or easy.

The Cardinals continued to play strong defense, but Baldwin slowly chipped away at their lead. At the midpoint in the half, it was all but gone as Prescott clung to a two-point advantage. A big three-pointer from Posthuma from the very top of the key gave them some breathing room back with just under 8:00 remaining.

Otto added on a couple minutes later with a hook shot over her head and behind her as she moved under the basket, a great shot she’s made a few times already this season, but it never gets any less fun to watch. With a Prescott seven-point lead and 5:30 to go, Baldwin called a timeout to talk things over.

Prescott responded by pushing the lead to 10 after a French layup and a Zuehlsdorf three-pointer, but the Blackhawks refused to say die. After hitting back-to-back 3’s, they pulled within five. Ultimately, they lost the battle from the line at the end, though.

With Baldwin’s only recourse to play the foul game in an attempt to control the clock and get Prescott to beat themselves at the line, the Cardinals got the ball in arguably their two best shooters’ hands at the charity stripe in Posthuma and Otto. They combined to go 4-4 with the game on the line bringing the final score to 44-37.

With this win, they climbed back into the driver’s seat in the Middle Border, a position they’d like to remain in as they look to Friday when they will travel to Ellsworth to play the first-place Panthers in a rivalry game to determine who will stay and who will go.

Head Coach Owen Hamilton says the biggest thing for them going forward is to keep playing the kind of basketball that’s gotten them their last couple of big wins, especially this week.

“We’ve really locked in on the defensive end on what our matchups are and who we’re guarding, and come Friday, we’ll be guarding a really good player in Molly Janke. As long as we keep locking into scouting reports on the other girls, I think we’ll keep ourselves in a good position to win,” Hamilton said. “Offensively, I think we’re getting ourselves into some great spots and letting the offense run through all five girls. With a Friday night game against a conference rival, I think it’s about enjoying the moment and having some fun with it too. We only get so many games like this each year, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Coach Hamilton also notes that this game sends a message to the rest of the conference, as well. In a tie situation, each team wants to be the first one to knock off the others at the top so then everything starts to run through them.

Tip off for that game is on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Ellsworth.