ELLSWORTH — Prescott rallied back from an eight-point halftime deficit in Ellsworth to bring a rivalry win back to the nest by a score of 41-36 in Ellsworth on Jan. 29.

The opening minutes were as defensive as it gets, with the scoreline tied at nine nearly seven minutes in. That was not about to change, as the Cardinals largely shut down Ellsworth for the remainder of the half to take a 22-14 lead to the break. The Panthers have no quit though, storming back into the game with a 13-4 run over the second half’s opening five minutes to take a 27-26 lead, capped by a floater on the right baseline from freshman Tate Huppert, who led the Panthers with 18 on the night.

The lead changed hands multiple times late in the second half, but a slick pass from Hannah Schommer to a cutting Izzy Thoen stretched Prescott’s lead to 37-34 with 3:30 to play, and the Cardinals hit free throws in the waning moments to seal the deal.

“It was just the experience from the season. We’ve been there. We've done that. We’ve seen those situations,” Prescott Head Coach Owen Hamilton said. “Believe in what we’ve done. Believe in the work that you’ve put in.”

Both defenses took a significant step forward from the 69-59 Prescott win at home back on Dec. 11.

“It means everything… Shots weren’t falling. I asked my mom, who takes stats at every game, and she said we shot 32% and 8% from three. As uncharacteristic as that is for us, great teams find ways to win,” Hamilton said. “I told the girls, I think we’re kind of starting to find that rhythm and how we can be a great team. Now’s the time you want to find it.”

Hamilton said a portion of the offensive struggles on both sides can be credited to the defensive intensity the student-athletes brought to the table.

“Defensively, some good stuff. We were kind of settling for some shots, taking some great shots that just didn’t go, missing bunnies,” Hamilton said. “Once the confidence goes, the confidence goes, and I think you could kind of say that for both sides tonight where there were some uncharacteristic misses.”

At 10-7 overall and 6-3 in Middle Border Conference play, Prescott is at the portion of the season where the team is playing multiple conference games per week, and every team has a target on their back. Rivalry games like the one Jan. 29 help reignite that fire in what can otherwise be an “exhausting” stretch.

“It felt very good to come over to Ellsworth and get a big win in this rivalry,” junior Delaney Nelson said. “That competitive edge of being at home helped us last time. This time, just knowing that we’re together as a team and we can finish through the game really helped us.

“It feels good. It definitely can get long sometimes, a little exhausting. Games like this really push us over the edge and keep us pushing through the season,” Nelson said.

Earlier in the week, Prescott celebrated senior Violet Otto scoring 40 points against Rice Lake. While they could not overcome the Warriors, most teams have suffered a similar fate to the team expected to be in contention for a State title. Rice Lake senior Adaline Sheplee averages 28.4 points per game and is a top 50 recruit in the entire nation on multiple ranking websites.

Otto’s accomplishment did not go unnoticed, eclipsing 40 points, 11 rebounds and three assists despite the loss. Otto went head-to-head against Sheplee, who scored 43 of her own. Sheplee is a Wisconsin basketball commit.

“It was unbelievable. I told the girls the next day, I said it might have been one of the best performances that gym has ever seen,” Hamilton said. “She was getting face-guarded by a top 50 player in the country and she forced them to go to a zone. That’s as special as it gets.”