The Ellsworth girls’ basketball team (4-3, 3-2) finished 2020 strong with a 20-point win over Big Rivers Conference opponent Chippewa Falls.

Senior Autumn Earney led the Panthers with 35 points on over 60% shooting from the field, while the improving Ellsworth defense held the Cardinals to 30% as a team.

“We had some good things going the last game, and we are working hard to keep the kids on a strong improvement plan, both as individuals and as a team. We've had some practices that have been highly skill-centered and some more team-oriented to keep things_fresh the best we can,” said Head Coach Jason Janke. “We have a tough conference, and we want to have confidence in all aspects of our game. As coaches, we've not been pleased with our defense nor our team rebounding, so that's been an area of focus over the holidays as well. This week we get back to more specific game-prep for New Richmond and Osceola, whom we face on backto- back evenings this week. We hope to come out strong.”

The Panthers appear to be settling into their system on both sides of the court.

“Our kids are finding their roles and really starting to settle into them nicely. Autumn Earney has been with us for four years and is really enjoying the season so far. Autumn and Brianna Giese are two returning captains who really work to keep things steady and they have done a great job making the two freshmen feel comfortable in the rotation. Molly Janke has done some good things for us, for sure. She brings a level of confidence with the ball and a great ability to get it to a_teammate in the proper spot that we have not really had the last few years. She has an uncanny sense to find Autumn in our transition game,_which really has its positives for our team. All the kids in our rotation have found a role in what we're doing, and it's been nice to have some scoring balance in many games. We hope that continues, and at the same time, Autumn, Hayley, and Molly continue to find the hoop consistently. Lily Puhrmann has stepped into a nice, strong role as a defender, rebounder, and occasional scorer — we're very happy with her unselfishness and overall floor game,” Janke elaborated.

As the Panthers get deeper into Middle Border Conference (MBC) play, it is becoming more important to start every game strong.

“The Middle Border is a strong league this year,” Janke said. “I even had an area person familiar with both leagues tell me recently that he believes the MBC, overall, is as strong as the Big Rivers.”

Prescott leads the MBC with five wins and no losses, while Baldwin-Woodville (3-1) stands on soft ground at second place with the Panthers close behind with the same number of wins, but one more loss. The Panthers defeated the Blackhawks in Ellsworth’s second game of the season and don’t play again until Friday, January 29th.

“We have a very competitive group of kids playing right now. Clearly, Prescott, far and away, has the most talent top-to-bottom, but there is a lot of ability out there in the league overall, as well,” Janke stated. “We hope things continue on a good path and all our teams get to compete against each other all the way through the season.”