With one game left in the regular season, the Prescott boys' basketball team is sitting in second place in the Middle Border Conference at 9-4. Osceola leads the conference at 11-2, with one of the two Chieftain MBC losses coming at the hands of Coach Nick Johnson and the Prescott Cardinals.

Baldwin-Woodville came into Thursday's game at Prescott with an overall record of 6-14. The Cardinals were 14-7 overall.  The Blackhawks were sitting at 4-8 in conference, just one game ahead of Altoona for the MBC cellar dweller badge. Baldwin-Woodville has been outscored by opponents by 87 points this year, compared to Prescott outscoring their opponents by 55 points.

Most high school basketball fans would think the game would be academic, but it was not the case. 

Baldwin-Woodville notched a 46-45 barn burner over Prescott in mid-January and, for whatever reason, the Blackhawks have had Prescott's number this season, winning by a final of 50-36 on Thursday night in Prescott.

The Cardinals shot just 5 of 28 from three-point land (17%) and were just three of five from the free throw line. In January’s loss to the Blackhawks, Prescott made just one of five free throws. The 36 points scored Thursday night was almost 23 points below their per game scoring average.

"Baldwin-Woodville played at a slower pace and they did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game," said Prescott Head Coach Nick Johnson. "We settled for outside shots and didn't shoot well."

Junior Kobe Russell led the Cardinals with 13 points on 5 for 12 shooting from inside the arc and one of six from three. Junior Max Monteith chipped in with seven points on two of five shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore Emmett Otto also had seven points, but was just one of seven from three-point land.

The Cardinals only committed seven turnovers on the night.

"They (Baldwin-Woodville) played all man-to-man and made it really tough for us to get paint touches," said Johnson, "but some of that was on us, too, because we settled."

Prescott did secure the #1 seed in the WIAA Section 1 bracket; however, it could be a third time's a charm rematch in the second round of the post-season tournament. Baldwin-Woodville secured the ninth seed and St. Croix Central drew the eighth seed. Those two teams will square off on Tuesday, March 4. The winner will play in Prescott against the Cardinals on Friday, March 7.

Prescott- 56, Chippewa Falls-44

Prescott was back in the win column for a non-conference game on the road in Chippewa Falls Saturday night with a 56-44 victory. 

Kobe Russell was back to his normal self, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Russell was two for two from beyond the arc. Sophomore Emmett Otto received the team’s "game ball" against Chippewa Falls. Otto led the Cardinals from long-range shooting three of six. Otto finished with 12 points but also snared seven rebounds and dished out three assists.

Senior Barrett Temmers seems to be improving on a daily basis after recently beginning play the last two weeks after recovering from a broken leg in the football playoffs. Temmers, in just his third game this season, finished in double figures with 10 points and also grabbed five rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 11 of 22 (50%) and 9 of 26 from three (34%). Prescott improved to 15-8 overall on the season with the win against Chippewa Falls.

"I saw a lot of good things against Chippewa Falls," said Johnson. "Our defense is as good as it's been all season and we know what we're getting every game on that end of the floor. We have the ability to score inside and outside but we need to execute."

Having an additional week and a half for Temmers to continue to recover will only help the Cardinal execution. The Cardinals are shooting just 59% from the free throw line on the season. Last year as a junior, Temmers was 71% from the free throw line and notched the third most free throw attempts on the team. Temmers’ ability to drive to the basket and make it to the free throw line could be just what the doctor ordered for the Cardinals in the playoffs.     

The Cardinals will have one final conference game against Ellsworth on Thursday, Feb 27 at Ellsworth before the playoffs begin. Tip-off next Thursday is at 7 p.m.