The Prescott Cardinals defeated the Saint Croix Central Panthers by a score of 78-75 on Tuesday, Jan. 23 in Prescott. The player of the game should come as no surprise to fans of Cardinal basketball as Dallis Wallin put up a double-double with a massive 36 points to go along with 16 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Max Monteith, Kyle Cogan and Barrett Temmers all scored double digit points as well.

Head Coach Nick Johnson says the win over the Panthers wasn’t their best performance, but that Saint Croix Central is a dangerous team that’s playing some of its best basketball of the season right now.

“That’s life in the Middle Border this season, you have to show up against every team. We found ways to make big plays in crucial situations. When we needed to get stops and big baskets we did, and Dallas was dominant throughout the game,” Johnson said. "Dallas has a severely sprained ankle and no timetable on his injury. We're hoping for a return at the end of this week, but everything is to be determined. Without him, we need to get a team effort offensively. We have to have players step up, we need to continue to defend well and rebounding will be crucial with a smaller lineup.”

Johnson went on to say that besides Wallin’s injury, and before he got hurt, they've been happy with where the team is at at this point in the season. He says they continue to defend well and they hope to continue to hang their hat on that side of the ball.

Obviously, this is a massive blow at a critical point in the season for a team that’s in position to win another conference championship. The impact of losing such an influential player cannot be overstated.

With this win, Prescott maintains its positioning with the Osceola Chieftains as coleaders at the top of the Middle Border Conference, each with 8-1 records.

Next up for the Cardinals is a pair of MBC road games this week when they travel to Altoona to play the fourth place 5-4 Railroaders on Tuesday and then to Amery on Friday to play the seventh place 2-7 Warriors. Tipoff for both games is at 7 p.m.

Dunn-St. Croix: SV Cards win pair of road games

The Spring Valley Cardinals won a pair of games on the road this week, first defeating Osseo-Fairchild 65-42 and then defeating Boyceville 55-37.

It was a good week for the Cardinals as they maintained their position as a top-2 team in the Dunn-St. Croix with their win over the conference rival Boyceville Bulldogs.

Cade Stasiek predictably led the team in points this week, with back-to-back double-doubles totaling 30 points to go along with a whopping 27 rebounds and 14 assists. Caleb Bartko also had a nice week with 27 points, and Masyn Wolf scored 25 to go along with his 18 rebounds.

Head Coach Rob Bosshart likes what he’s seen from his team of late.

“We’ve played pretty solid basketball the last couple of weeks by taking good care of the ball and shoring up our defense,” Bosshart said. “The kids have played with a lot of confidence and poise in some difficult environments and have really grown as a team. We feel like we’re ready for the challenges that lie ahead in the last few weeks of the regular season.” 

For those wondering, you’re going to have to wait until the second to last game of the season before the second place 7-1 Cardinals will have a chance to face the 8-0 Durand-Arkansaw Panthers in what might be the definitive contest for who takes home this years Dunn-St. Croix Conference Championship.

First though, the Cardinals will need to get through three more conference games beginning this week when they travel to Glenwood City on Tuesday to face the Hilltoppers and then return home to host the Colfax Vikings on Friday. Tipoff for both  games is at 7:15 pm.

Girls: SV Cards go 1-1 on the week

The Spring Valley Cardinals went 1-1 this week, first beating the Glenwood City Hilltoppers on the road 58-34, then returning home where they fell to the Colfax Vikings 57-32.

It was a solid week of Dunn-St. Croix Conference play for the Cardinals who continued their late season surge. The recent return of Charli Vanasse has seemed to reinvigorate this team as they look to finish the regular season strong and head into the postseason playing their best basketball of the year.

Mara Ducklow, the Cardinals’ leading scorer this season, was at it again this week as she put up a double-double in their first outing against the Hilltoppers enroute to tallying 30 total points to go along with 18 rebounds, five assists and four steals. Audrey Mathison and Maddie Shafer also had a nice week with strong contributions in both games.

With just six games remaining before the playoffs, this team is looking like it will be competitive in their first season of D5 playoffs. It will be interesting to see how far they can go as, although they have seen most of the teams they’ll be facing in the playoffs before, it’ll be a new environment against opponents who are a division below many of the teams Spring Valley normally plays in the Dunn-St. Croix.

Up next for the Cardinals is a two-game slate on the road beginning on Tuesday when they travel to Osceola to play the Chieftains at 7 p.m., then continuing Thursday with a DSC conference game in Mondovi against the Buffaloes at 7:15 p.m.

Ellsworth Panthers go 1-1 this week

The Ellsworth Panthers went 1-1 this week, losing on the road in Altoona against the Railroaders 38-28 and then bouncing back at home to win big over the Amery Warriors 62-47.

It was a good week of basketball for the Panthers whose only blemish was coming up just short in an away game against a very good Altoona team. Ellsworth’s top shooter Molly Janke narrowly missed a double-double in that game coming up just one rebound short and was one of only two players in the game to score double digit points.

The team’s production in the game against he Warriors was a lot more balanced with Ava Brookshaw,  Maria Harrington and Morgan Halverson all joining Janke in scoring double digit points. Brookshaw led the team scoring 18 points for the Panthers.

Head Coach Jason Janke says the game against Altoona was a hard-fought, physical and defensive game where the Panthers just came up a little short.

“Our game plan was fairly well-executed, we just didn't shoot the ball very well at all. Altoona was able to get some inside scoring that we were not and that, along with them hitting more free throws was the difference in the game,” Janke said.

Coach Janke says that where the game against Altoona was one of the worst offensive games of the season, the game against Amery was one of the their best.

“Again, another hard-fought, very physical MBC game, but this time we were able to shoot the ball extremely well. And, until very late, it was also one of the better defensive performances,” Janke said. “Ava Brookshaw was the catalyst in the first half when we staked ourselves a nice lead, and her and Molly combined for five first-half three-pointers and 21 points between the two. When the game reached the last 4-5 minutes, Amery resorted to fouling to get the ball back, but we went 8-9 from the free throw line.”

Harrington and Brookshaw combined to swish 10 second-half free throws in this one, a marked improvement over the Altoona game where Ellsworth as a team only had four free throw attempts all game and were outscored in that department by a 13-2 margin, a difference that determined the outcome of that game.

Janke says the team is ready to finish the season strong and make a strong push in the WIAA regional round of the playoffs.

“We will look to shore up some offensive weaknesses and see if we can force some more turnovers and easier scoring opportunities with our defense. We have great team-chemistry and a fantastic team-first approach by all the kids, so we'll continue to work and get better until they don't let us play anymore,” Janke said.

Next up for the Panthers as they head into the final two weeks and change of the season is their last non-conference game of the year when they host Mondovi on Tuesday. After that, they travel to Baldwin to play the second place Blackhawks. Tipoff for both games is at 7 p.m.