by Jack McLoone

After the Panthers pulled off big wins against two of the Middle Border Conferences (MBC) top three teams last week to finish conference play, they will look to take the momentum into the playoffs.

Second-place New Richmond (10-8, 10-4 in MBC play) and third-place Somerset (16-8, 8-6 in MBC play) both fell in Ellsworth last week.

In Tuesday’s 66-62 win over New Richmond, junior Jack Janke led the Panthers in scoring with 29 points and five rebounds, highlighted by an efficient 10 of 11 at the charity stripe. Senior Mason Anderson finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, including an active night on the defensive end of the court, ending the night with three steals and a pair of blocked shots.

Junior Spencer Schultz ended the night with 14 points and four boards.

Tiger junior CJ Campbell led all scorers with 30 points.

In Thursday’s win over the Spartans, the Panthers played from behind after going into halftime with a 35-27 deficit before outscoring Somerset 43-32 in the final stanza to put the finishing touches on the 70-67 win.

Janke again led in scoring,

See ELLSWORTH, Page 17

Mason Anderson faked a shot before going up strong on his way to 23 points and eight ball to the basket and lead the Panthers with 29 points. Photos by Gaylen Bicking.

rebounds over New Richmond. At right, Jack Janke drove the ELLSWORTH

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ending the night with 24 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists. Anderson recorded 17 points, nine rebounds and a pair of assists and blocks in the win. Once again, Schultz recorded 14 points and four rebounds in the win. Fellow junior Tanner Pechacek recorded four points, four assists and three steals, while senior Shane Lange led the team with seven assists.

Ellsworth seems to have turned the corner on the season at the perfect time.

“We are a confident team right now,” Coach Jordan Petersen said. “We knew we could compete with the top of the conference and it is nice to be showing that at the end of the year. Throughout the season it has been a slow process of building confidence in all players, but this last week we were able to see that play out.”

The Panthers remain confident while their season is still alive.

“We haven't done anything different in practice,” Petersen stated. “We have been preaching our concepts throughout the entire year and trust that if we execute them, we will be successful. This last week we were able to execute our concepts and game plan at a high level and all of our guys are playing confidently.”

Ellsworth has seen a multitude of players step up on the court.

“Mason Anderson is still a very vocal leader for us,” Petersen iterated. “Throughout the season, we have seen a lot of players grow in leadership and communication within the team. Shane Lange, Spencer Schultz, Jack Janke and Tanner Pechacek have all stepped up throughout the year and are growing in leadership.”

Ellsworth (8-10,7-7 in MBC play) had the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling in Tuesday night’s WIAA Regional at Baldwin Woodville (9-10,7-7 in MBC play) that was played after this publication went to press. The teams already faced off twice in conference play this season, each winning handedly at home. Ellsworth won the mid-December matchup 63-41, while Baldwin-Woodville was victorious on their home court a week and a half ago, winning 66-50.

The winner of Tuesday’s game will travel to Altoona to play the Regional’s #1 seeded Railroaders this Friday night at 7:00 p.m.