Violet Otto had a great night from the three-point line in Prescott's victory over the Somerset Spartans on Tuesday.

The Prescott Cardinals went 2-0 last week, first defeating the Somerset Spartans on Tuesday in Somerset 58-50 and then returning home where they beat Saint Croix Central 47-43.

These were two good wins against Middle Border teams for the Cardinals who currently have a one-game lead over rival Baldwin-Woodville in the conference standings.

Prescott had already gotten out to a 13-9 lead in their game against Somerset when star player Lila Posthuma jumped in front of a Spartan pass, stole the ball and took a fastbreak to the house to add on two more.

Posthuma was right back at it a minute later, moving to the top of the perimeter and draining a deep three-pointer off of a pass from Violet Otto. Then she did it again to make it 23-13 with 9:30 to go in the opening frame.

This big lead would not hold for long though as Somerset started closing the gap over the next several minutes. With 7:00 remaining on the clock, it was still 23-15 in favor of Prescott, but a fastbreak by the Spartans kicked off what would become an 11-0 run to take the lead.

The opportunities that Prescott had on shots during this stretch seemed to find a way to not go through the hoop, and Somerset kept plugging away, putting in basket after basket. The Cardinals stayed with it though and kept battling even as the Spartans took a 26-23 lead.

In times like this, teams need an alpha to step up and take control of the game narrative. For Prescott, that player is Posthuma. After 11 in a row went on the board for the opposition, she took it upon herself to drive the lane, quite literally forcing her way through Spartans and manufacturing two points for the Cardinals, pulling them within one at 26-25.

Rory Zuehlsdorf drew a foul and put the lead back in the right place, sinking both opportunities from the charity stripe with 3:30 left to play in the first period.

This sparked a three-point spree by sophomore phenom Otto, who got the red birds back on top as one after another fell for her going into the half. The first one came from a step off the top of the perimeter. The second came when she got open on the right corner and drained it after a pass over from Posthuma. The final one was from the opposite corner, and it was set up with a timely steal by Kelsey Sterud that got Prescott the ball back with under 1:00 remaining.

This outburst of scoring after stalling out in the middle of the period had the Cardinals up by eight going into the half at 37-29.

Somerset struck first in the second period with a three-pointer to put some pressure back on Prescott, but Otto answered right back, pushing through a sea of defenders before hitting a jump shot for two.

Several defensive minutes ensued. At 13:30, Prescott had a 41-34 lead when Cadyn Hillebrand found an opening on the outside and didn’t miss. A flick of her wrists, and the Cardinals were up by double digits once again.

They were able to increase that lead incrementally over the next several minutes, and a steal by Posthuma allowed the Cardinals to push their advantage out to an even dozen at 49-37.

Somerset just wouldn’t go away though. Every time Prescott seemed to be running away with the game, the Spartans battled back. This time it came in the form of hitting multiple three-pointers enroute to an 8-2 run to pull within six at 51-45.

Another three by Somerset was followed by a layup by Prescott, and suddenly the home team had pulled within five. This spread would hold until the 2:00 mark when Prescott called one of their timeouts to talk over their gameplan.

In this situation, the strategy the Cardinals went with was to play keep away. With a two-score lead, all they really needed to do was kill time and limit opportunities, and they did this with aplomb. Basically, Prescott just had to pass the ball around until they were fouled and then take their free shots from the line.

On the other side, Somerset needed to be perfect with their opportunities despite aggressive defense to the contrary. In the end, the Spartans were not perfect in the face of tight coverage and the efficient ball control of Prescott, and a steal by Otto with 35 seconds remaining sealed their fate. The game came to a close with the Cardinals up by three scores at 58-50.

The player of the game was Posthuma who had a double-double with 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Not far behind was Otto with 16 points to compliment her seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Earlier this month, Posthuma became the fifth girl in school history to reach the 1,000 point threshold. This elite production is the reason she was recruited to play D1 basketball next year in college. First though, she has some unfinished business to attend to with the Cardinals, finishing out the season on top of the Middle Border Conference and making a run at a state championship.

“The most important thing as we finish the season is just working together as a team. We need to make sure that our defense is turning into offense, slow possessions on offense, finding good looks and not rushing shots,” Posthuma said. “It's always a goal of every one of our girls to win conference, but really, in the postseason is where we go to work. It's just a different environment, and we’re excited for it.”

Head Coach Owen Hamilton says that in a game where they maybe didn’t shoot the greatest from the field, he likes how well they controlled the game.

“We didn't turn it over a ton. We valued the ball, and we valued possessions. We got everyone involved instead of just going to one or two girls, and I think that was all to the good,” Hamilton said. “Defensively there was lapses, but for the most part, we played pretty solid. We got the ball, we rebounded it, we held onto it. We just took our time and did it the Prescott way when things weren't going perfect, and historically that’s worked pretty well.”

It certainly has worked well for the Cardinals. With these two wins, Prescott maintains its position at the top of the Middle Border as they look for a fifth consecutive conference championship.

Next up for the 8-1 Cardinals is their last non-conference game at home on Tuesday against the New Richmond Tigers, and then they travel to Altoona on Thursday where they will play the third place 6-2 Railroaders. Tipoff for both games is at 7 p.m.