The Ellsworth girls basketball team visited River Falls on Tuesday and came out with a blazing hot offensive start, jumping to an early 10point lead bolstered by 3-point baskets by Brianna Giese, Molly Janke & Ava Brookshaw. On the defensive end, Giese and Hayley Bach took on the Wildcat’s leading scorers, holding them to 7 first-half points._ The hosts would have nothing of getting blown out on their homecourt, however. Coming off an impressive comeback win last Friday against Menomonie, the Wildcats were in familiar territory and proved their mettle in battling back quickly, to a 26-22 halftime deficit. The second half opened with River Falls turning up the defense and a balanced attack led by Ella Peters and Maria Vitt on offense that led to a steady lead throughout._ The Panthers’ offense was out of steam early in the latter half and with just over 5:00 remaining, they found themselves trailing their hosts by 10 points. Employing some full-court pressure to force the hand of the Wildcats proved worthwhile, as Autumn Earney closed the gap to 46-40 at the 2:30 mark of the game. From there, Giese and Janke each dropped in free throws to create the drama that would unfold down the stretch.

A Panther loose ball rebound led to a possession down 46-44, as the clock ticked under 1:00, Janke found her way to the basket for a contested layup but got it to drop, tying the score. A River Falls time-out led to another as the Panther defense held strong, but with :17 on the clock, Brianna Giese dove toward a mishandled pass, stole the ball and in one motion scooped the ball to Earney for a transition opportunity. With two Wildcats in pursuit, Earney banked home the go-ahead basket with :10 remaining._ After some scrambling, River Falls had an inbounds on their offensive end with :03 to play, but the Panthers’ defense made the 48-46 score stand up as, poetically, Giese secured the final missed shot as time expired.

Janke and Earney led the Panthers in the scoring column with 20 and 16 respectively, while Brookshaw and Giese added 5 apiece. Puhrmann (7) and Janke (11) led the rebounding forces for Ellsworth as they competed inside against the 6’ Wildcat, Taylor Kasten for inside prowess._

Panther boys fall twice

The Ellsworth Panthers (3-7, 2-4 in Middle Border) came up short in both games last week. After Thursday’s game against Osceola was canceled due to inclement weather, a non-conference matchup with Dunn-St. Croix Conference-leading Spring Valley (8-2, 5-1) was added.

On Tuesday, the Panthers fell at New Richmond, 93-78. Senior Mason Anderson led Ellsworth in scoring after recording a 33-point, 11-rebound double-double. Anderson was one of three Panthers to finish with a doubledouble in the loss after junior Jack Janke and senior Shane Lange finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 points, 10 rebounds, respectively.

Against Spring Valley Friday, Anderson once again led the way with scoring after finishing with a gamehigh 26 points and six rebounds. Janke recorded 10 points and six boards, while fellow junior Alex Coulthard led the Panthers with four assists and three steals. Junior Tanner Pechacek hit three of four shots from outside the arc to finish with nine points.

Spring Valley juniors Connor Ducklow and Tyler Bowman led the Cardinals, each scoring 23 points.

Whipple leads Wolves

The Elmwood/Plum City (EPC) Wolves (5-4, 3-3 in Dunn-St. Croix) lost last week to Dunn-St. Croix (DSC) Conference opponent Mondovi (4-6, 2-3 in DSC). After going into the half dead even at 31 points each, the Buffaloes outscored the Wolves by ten in the second half to win, 66-56.

Junior Dayne Whipple led scoring with 15 points on six of 10 shooting from the floor. Junior Luke Webb and senior Basil Gilles finished in double figures as well, scoring 11 and 10, respectively. Senior Tyler Bauer ended the game with eight points and seven rebounds, while Webb led all players on the boards after pulling down 14.

Seniors Austin Bartz and Elijah Gansluckner each led the team in assists after both finishing with three. Bartz also recorded six points and seven rebounds.

“On Friday, we are looking to limit turnovers and bounce back after a tough loss last Thursday,” Coach Kyle Webb said.

The Wolves had a brief break in scheduled games, with eight days between outings to focus on improving in the practice gym.

“With this length of time where we are practicing, I'd like us to try to work on our outside shooting and cut back on our turnovers, while strengthening our defense,” Webb stated.

EPC travels to Boyceville this Friday to take on the winless Bulldogs.

RF girls handle Cardinals

River Falls girls’ basketball team (3-7, 3-3 in Big Rivers play) traveled to Chippewa Falls (0-11) to take on the winless Cardinals.

After holding a 19-18 advantage at the break, the Wildcats held the lead for a 51-47 win.

Senior guard Rachel Randleman led River Falls with 12 points and five assists. Freshman Jordan Schwantz finished the game with 11 points to go along with a pair of boards and a blocked shot. Junior post player Taylor Kasten netted eight points and led the team with 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Maria Vitt was active on defense and finished the game with a pair of steals.

Cardinal’s senior Savannah Hinke led all scorers with 22 points.

River Falls hosted Hudson (12-0, 7-0 in Big Rivers play) on Tuesday night before traveling to play Eau Claire Memorial (4-6, 3-5 in Big Rivers play).

Wildcat boys win pair

The Wildcat boys won twice in as many days last week after beating Chippewa Falls (7-3, 3-2 in Big Rivers) 75-59 last Friday night at home. River Falls (9-2, 4-2 in Big Rivers) is currently Division Two’s eighth ranked team according to the wissports.net Coach’s Poll.

Seniors Zac Johnson and Liam Dougherty each finished with 21 points, while fellow senior JT Dougherty recorded 18 points. The three also combined for 22 rebounds, while junior Michael Schurman ended the night with eight points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Liam Dougherty was the essence of efficiency, missing just one of his 11 shots against the Cardinals.

Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats played Monona Grove in the Silver Eagle’s first game of the season at the Midwest Players Classic hosted at the La Crosse Center.

Johnson once again led scoring for River Falls after recording a 32-point, 11-rebound double-double, accompanied by four steals. Liam Dougherty finished with a dozen points and four rebounds, while Schurman notched six assists in the win.

River Falls had a game scheduled for Monday with La Crosse Logan canceled before traveling to Holmen (4-3, 2-2 in Mississippi Valley play) after the printing of this publication on Tuesday night. The Wildcats host Eau Claire Memorial (6-3, 2-3 in Big Rivers play).