After the Ellsworth girls basketball team jumped out to a 30-21 lead at the half against Amery on Tuesday, Feb. 8, the Warriors mounted a second-half comeback that forced Ellsworth to rally late in the game to secure their eighth conference win of the season.

Ellsworth entered the game with an 11-9 record overall and a 7-3 record in Middle Border Conference play, which made them one of the top three teams in the standings. Amery entered the game having a much different season. The Warriors had a 7-12 record overall, including a 2-8 record in conference play. The only team with an inferior record is Saint Croix Central, which has yet to win its first conference game of the season and is currently 0-12 in such games.

The two teams, Ellsworth and Amery, went into the game on two completely different season arcs in terms of success and expectations. However, as soon as the action began, none of that mattered. Ellsworth controlled the pace of the game early and quickly took an 11-5 lead in the first six minutes of play.

The Panthers’ scoring included quality paint offense from sophomore Kayla Kressin and outside scoring from the three-point line by sophomore guard Ava Brookshaw. Molly Janke completed the trifecta of sophomore impact for Ellsworth when she grabbed an offensive rebound and made a putback layup to take the aforementioned 11-5 lead with 12 minutes to play in the first half.

Except for Janke’s layup with 12 to play in the opening half, she struggled with shooting from the floor. Missed layups and errant short jumpers were uncharacteristic for Ellsworth’s leading scorer for the season.

Janke found her stroke with approximately six minutes remaining in the half. Her nearly single-handed scoring run began with a layup to give the Panthers a 19-11 lead. Two minutes later she hit a three-pointer from the left wing. One minute later she hit another three-pointer from nearly the identical spot.

After a free throw line jumper by Amery junior Grace Carlson, Janke buried another three from the left wing which gave the Panthers a 28-15 lead with just over two minutes to play in the first half. Despite Ellsworth’s breakdowns defensively and turnovers, the Panthers took a 30-21 lead into the halftime break largely because of Janke’s first-half scoring.

Amery came out of the half looking like a different team. The Warriors outscored Ellsworth by two points in the opening eight minutes to cut the Panthers’ lead to seven points. Defensively Ellsworth struggled which helped Amery get second-chance opportunities that they converted to stay competitive.

With six minutes left in the game, Amery’s Carlson made a layup to take a 42-41 lead over the Panthers. It was a culmination of the Warriors’ comeback attempt that they mounted throughout the first 12 minutes of the second half. Ellsworth head coach Jason Janke spoke about the struggles defensively and with the turnovers.

“I think the big one is the turnovers,” Jason Janke said. “You’ve got to give Amery credit. That’s a well-coached team. We’re an average defensive team, so when we play below average like we did, they’re going to score some points and it’s going to be hard to put anybody away.”

Jason Janke’s analysis rang true throughout the final five minutes of regulation. The admitted average defensive unit for the Panthers struggled to stop Amery freshman Luciana Aizpurua and her ability to score from threepoint range.

With three minutes left Aizpurua made a top of the key three-pointer to knot the game up 45-45. As Amery and Ellsworth got down to crunch time in a close game, Brookshaw and Kressin stepped up for Ellsworth on both sides of the ball. Their free throw shooting was critical in the closing stretch after Ellsworth took a three-point lead with a minute left and Amery began to play the foul game. Jason Janke spoke about the free throw shooting.

“(The free throw shooting) felt good for a change,” Jason Janke said. “We’ve stayed steady and I credit the kids. They’ve listened and they’re working on things that we’ve asked them to.”

Kressin, the Panthers’ primary post presence, was integral to Ellsworth’s 57-52 victory over Amery to improve to 12-9 for the season and 8-3 in the Middle Border. Jason Janke spoke highly of Kressin’s play throughout the last week.

“That’s probably the best varsity game overall, two in a row, I thought she played one of her best last Thursday and I thought she played even better tonight,” Jason Janke said after the win. “She’s a really smart kid and works on things. She works, gets better and listens. I can’t say enough about her.”

Although Kressin only scored 11 points, she was Ellsworth’s primary paint defender, crashed the glass effectively and got her teammates open looks throughout the evening. Kressin spoke about her performance.

“I definitely favor defense,” Kressin said. “I feel like one of my biggest roles is getting rebounds. I like kicking out to my teammates and getting them an open shot too. I like to consider myself a selfless player. I like my teammates scoring too and I get just as much joy out of them making a three as I do blocking a shot.”

Kressin’s emergence as a force on both ends of the floor has contributed to Ellsworth’s position near the top of the standings, trailing only Prescott (9-2) for the conference lead. Jason Janke spoke about the conference title coming down to the last week of the regular season.

“While it’s a young league, the teams that are battling it out, we’re probably the least experienced,” Jason Janke said. “I’m not going to lie to you. I’m going to play the underdog role the rest of the week. All three (remaining conference games) are on the road. Altoona handed us our supper at the start of January. Our kids can play really well, and they can play average.”

Before and after the game, Ellsworth’s crowd, school and coaching staff honored the three seniors on the roster in Payton Langer, Brianna Maurer and Ashley Koch. Jason Janke spoke about senior night and the emotions of that special celebration.

“My college coach always said this, ‘Senior nights are hard,’” Jason Janke recalled. “It’s just a lot of emotion. You think it’s the seniors, but a lot of times it’s the other kids and their feelings for the seniors. We’ve got a group of kids that really love those three girls.”

Ellsworth’s remaining three games are all Middle Border matchups. The first was on Friday, Feb. 11 against Altoona. The second was on Tuesday, Feb. 15 against Osceola, and the third is the regular season finale against Prescott on Thursday, Feb. 17. All three games are on the road and will likely decide this year’s Middle Border Conference champion.

Ellsworth senior Brianna Maurer entered the game in the closing minutes of the game against Amery on senior night. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Senior Payton Langer of the Ellsworth girls basketball team was one of three seniors honored on senior night against Amery.Photo by Reagan Hoverman