Throughout the first month of the 202223 season, Ellsworth’s first-year head coach Derek Staley stated that his roster would have to create and find its own identity, and it appears as if they’ve done exactly that.

After finishing the first ever Elmwood/ Plum City Holiday Tournament with a 1-1 record, the Ellsworth Panthers boys’ basketball team has found a recipe for success – good, active defense that creates easy transition offense.

Ellsworth displayed its newfound defensive identity during the first game of the Elmwood/ Plum City Holiday Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 28, which led to a 51-36 win against Cadott. With the win, Ellsworth secured a berth in the championship game the following day against Alma/Pepin, a game the Panthers lost 63-59 to finish the tournament 1-1.

In the day-one game against Cadott, Ellsworth found its stride defensively, especially senior guard Jurell Gooden, who took control of the game and recorded a team-high five steals in the 15-point win over the Hornets. Coach Staley spoke about the first win of the tournament.

“Defensively it was a fantastic effort and that’s what we’ve been harping on,” Staley said. “We’ve had a week of practice and we really hammered them on defensive basics with communication and gaps, which is still a work in progress. We’ve come a long way there and it’s good to see that.”

Throughout the opening eight minutes of the first half, Ellsworth jumped out to a 14-7 lead, in large part because of that defensive success. During that time, both the aforementioned Gooden and senior guard Lance Gipford jumped passes and made easy transition layups to craft the seven-point advantage.

Perhaps no play better characterized Ellsworth’s first half defensively than the final bucket going into halftime. Just as Cadott swung the ball around the arc, Gooden jumped the pass, stole it, and went coast-tocoast for an easy layup.

The Panthers limited the Cadott Hornets to just 12 first-half points while building a 26-12 lead going into the intermission. For coach Staley, the first half against Cadott was an example of how good his Panthers can be when they’re effective defensively.

“That’s where we can be really good, is defensively,” Staley said. “If we just buy into what we’re teaching and keep learning and growing, our defense can be – that’s how you win Middle Border games and that’s how you travel is by playing great defense.”

Cadott has historically played zone defense against most teams, just as the Hornets did in the first half against Ellsworth. However, coming out of the break, Cadott switched to a man defense, which is when Ellsworth senior forward Kaden Schommer took the game over.

Schommer’s size and physicality were an immediate mismatch that Ellsworth exploited as he went to work in the post. Schommer finished with 10 points on an efficient 5-8 shooting from the floor. Staley spoke about the mismatch and how they exploited it once Cadott switched to man.

“As soon as they went to man, we knew (Kaden Schommer) had the mismatch and we wanted to take advantage of that,” Staley said. “That was kind of the plan coming in. We knew if they went to man, we’d have a mismatch somewhere in the post. We didn’t probably get there enough, but we got there a bit.”

The Panthers’ exploitation of mismatches in the post and overall success defensively helped Ellsworth cruise to a 51-36 win on the first day of the Elmwood/Plum City Holiday Tournament. Gipford led all scorers with 18 points, while also tallying six boards, two assists and four steals. Gooden finished with six points, eight rebounds and a team-high five steals.

While Ellsworth is certainly on the right path defensively, youth and inexperience on the varsity roster continues to show in the rebounding battle and turnover margin. Coach Staley spoke about both of those areas that still have room for growth.

“We just have inconsistency in our boxout effort, which is another emphasis from last week. We probably won the rebounding battle by a wide margin, but it certainly could have been better,” Staley said. “Inexperience and playing young guys (can lead to turnovers). Lance (Gipford) is asked to do a lot and for the most part, he’s shown up well, but sometimes he just tries to force too much.”

Through the first month of the season, Ellsworth had been averaging nearly 20 turnovers a game, which typically shipwrecks any chance to win a game. However, the Panthers have consistently lowered that number and are now turning it over in the low teens on average.

After defeating Cadott, Ellsworth fell in the championship game the following day in a 63-59 contest against the Alma/Pepin Eagles. The Panthers trailed by nine going into the half, 28-19, before ultimately coming up just short in the final minutes.

With one win and one loss at the Elmwood/ Plum City Holiday Tournament, the Panthers’ record moves to 3-6 overall. Ellsworth is back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 3, when the Panthers host the Osceola Chieftains in a Middle Border Contest. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.