The Ellsworth girls’ basketball team (8-5, 6-4 in Middle Border play) traveled to Hammond for the Battle of the Panthers on January 19th and withstood a very strong first half performance by St. Croix Central (1-9, 0-9 in MBC play) before pulling away for a 65 – 44 victory. The host Panthers came out with a hot hand from the outside, jumping to an early lead. Trailing 9-5, Ava Brookshaw got the purple Panthers back on track with two 3-point baskets sandwiched between two field goals by Lily Puhrmann to pull Ellsworth into the lead for the night._ On the defensive end, Brianna Giese was a dynamo from the start, grabbing five first-half steals to go with three defensive rebounds. Molly Janke was up to the task on the offensive end, scoring 17 first-half points to help the Purple go to the locker room with a 36 – 23 lead._ “You have to give St. Croix Central a lot of credit the way they started the game,” said Ellsworth Coach Jason Janke. “I think our kids overlooked them a little and we had to adjust some things with Hayley’s injury (starting guard Hayley Bach missed the game with an ankle injury suffered against Prescott on January 15). We struggled on offense early, but it was really nice to see Lily step up and Ava really did a nice job from the outside as well.”

In the second half, Panthers’ leading scorer Autumn Earney sprang to life, scoring 16 points. Meanwhile, the Ellsworth defense was strong as well, consistently limiting their hosts to one shot on the offensive end, as Janke, Puhrmann and Brookshaw controlled the boards out of the Panther zone defense. With Earney, Giese & Kaitlyn Peterson harassing Central on the perimeter, the combined efforts led to a 29-21 second half advantage._ Janke led a balanced Ellsworth attack with 23 points and 10 assists, followed closely by Earney who dropped in 19. Puhrmann posted a career high 10, while Ava Brookshaw added 8. Other statistical leaders were Giese with eight steals, while Janke and Puhrmann contributed nine rebounds apiece._ “Overall, we played a pretty solid game,” stated Coach Janke, “we took advantage of some defensive tactics as the game wore on, and Lily did a really nice job attacking the basket. Additionally, Ava has really gotten comfortable on the varsity floor, she was out there playing with some great confidence tonight, and we need that out of her. The kids also learned the value of free throws tonight, as we were a little cold shooting early on except for Ava (Brookshaw). If we don’t make our free throws that becomes a very different game.”

Ellsworth finished 14 of 17 from behind the charity stripe in the game.

“We also pulled together a little more tonight,” added Janke. “We had a kid down. Kaitlyn came in and did her usual solid job on defense, but she added a steal or two and just does an outstanding job of bringing the group together with her positive attitude and complimentary way, it’s really cool to watch how this group is growing together. They’re a great group of kids!”

Thursday of last week, the Panthers played each other again. Ellsworth picked up right where they left off and cruised to an easy 61-25 win on the road. Earney led the team with 29 points, four more than the opposing Panthers.

Janke dominated both ends of the court, ending the night with 11 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and a block. The freshman capped off an impressive week, totaling 34 points, 20 rebounds, 18 assists and nine steals in the pair of games against St. Croix Central.

Ellsworth hosted Somerset (8-7, 5-4 in MBC play) on Tuesday before traveling to Osceola (6-8, 3-7 in MBC play) on Thursday and Baldwin- Woodville (8-4, 6-3 in MBC play) on Friday to cap off a trio of important games. Ellsworth and their three opponents this week sit in the middle of the MBC pack behind Prescott and New Richmond, so all four teams will be looking to improve their status in the ever-competitive Middle Border Conference.

Photos by Gaylen Bicking.