The Ellsworth Girls Basketball team traveled to Amery on Friday, December 11 searching for their first victory over Amery in 13 seasons! After a sluggish start that saw Mariah Wallin keep the hosts close, Hayley Bach and Autumn Earney caught fire from the perimeter. The Panther duo combined for 31 of 34 first-half points, leading their squad to a 34-21 halftime lead. Bach & Earney each dropped in 4 3-pointers in the half, including 3 consecutive makes by Bach at one point.

The Panthers, plagued the previous two games by inconsistency in the two halves, came out of the halftime locker room determined to go home victors. Earney turned up her defensive intensity, turning several tipped balls into steals, which turned into baskets. She scored 18 second-half points, as Ellsworth pulled away to a 68-44 win.

While the second half was a more balanced affair, it was the Panther defense that, in stretches, proved to be the catalyst on this evening. Brianna Giese led the way on that end of the floor, directing her teammates in the various schemes.

Earney led all scorers with 34 points, while Bach dropped in 19, nailing 5 3-point baskets. Molly Janke dropped in 8, while the scoring was rounded out with a Kaitlyn Peterson 3point basket, a field goal by Lily Puhrmann and a free throw each from Giese and Ashley Koch. Janke added a strong floor game, garnering 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

'When Hayley got things going from the outside early on, it seemed it kicked all the girls into high gear on defense,' said Panther Coach Jason Janke. 'She got hot early and Autumn followed suit, they combined for 8 3's in the half, so those two certainly got us going on the offensive end. Amery was in a zone defense, seemingly very concerned about Autumn, and Hayley stepped up very well in the first half.'

Janke was not entirely pleased with his team's defense, but was happy with the win, especially in learning of the long drought vs Amery.

'We need be way more consistent with our defensive work, but we are making some changes in scheme, so I think we'll get better as the season progresses. We had to be happy after the game, though, somehow the girls found out that we had not beaten Amery in Girls basketball in 13 years, which is obviously before any of these kids were even in school. On one hand a great tribute to the consistently strong program that Amery has, but it was a neat hurdle for our seniors to 'jump'. They were fired up after the game, no question about it.'

The Panthers host defending MBC Champion, Prescott on December 15 and travel to 2020 sectional-qualifying New Richmond on December 18.

Hudson Girls Dominate in MBC vs Big Rivers Non-Con

The Hudson Raiders hosted Ellsworth Girls Basketball on December 9th and flexed some hoops muscle throughout the night. Seniors Livy Boily and Sophie Jonas combined for 25 first-half points to stake the hosts to a commanding 45-11 half-time lead.

Though the Panthers fought back to begin the second half, the strength of Raider Audrey Hatfield helped keep the game a runaway as Hudson closed the door early in their 68-30 victory.

Boily and Jonas led a balanced Raider attack with 17 and 15, respectively, while Molly Janke and Autumn Earney led the Panthers with 14 apiece. Janke led off the boards with 6, while Brianna Giese added 3 assists to the Panther statistics.

Said coach Janke: 'That is a very, very good basketball team, with great talent, size and quickness. Figure in that they shot around 60% for the night from the field and it's not a game we can compete very well in right now. We needed to shoot well, and play well enough on defense to force Hudson into a less-than-stellar shooting game. Neither of those things occurred and at this stage for the two programs, what you then get is a lop-sided game.'

'I just give great credit to the players and coaches in Hudson. It was a classy outfit and just did everything right and did it with confidence. I've seen very few teams as strong as them — they'll be fun to keep an eye on this year. We hope that our girls were paying attention and see, first-hand, the level we'd like them to achieve. While we don't have their size, each kid can develop skills and strengths to help us compete at a higher level if we get a chance to play a team like this again. We were very happy with the girls' ability to play hard and compete while playing such a strong outfit.'

'We'll learn from this game and move back into Middle Border play on Friday. Hopefully, we take lessons and apply them immediately.'

Photo by John McLoone.