The Panthers girls’ team started a long week of basketball with an exciting win when they hosted the Blackhawks from Baldwin-Woodville.

After the Panthers maintained a small lead for most of the game, the Blackhawks cut it to 57-54 by a Kate Grosskreutz 3-pointer with under 1:00 to play, it was time to see if the Panther girls had what it takes to finish a close game in the home confines. After breaking the Baldwin- Woodville press, the Panthers went 0-2 from the free throw line, giving the visitors an opening to tie the ball game with another 3-point shot.

After a missed shot and some scrambling for a loose rebound, the Panthers found themselves in possession of the ball with under 30 seconds to play. When an Autumn Earney bounce pass found Holly Carlson on the right lane-line, she dropped an 8-foot bank shot through the basket while being fouled with just ten seconds to play! Carlson sank the free throw, making it a full, 2 possession game and the Panther defense finished the job when Lily Puhrmann pulled down the final rebound of the night for a hotly contested 60-54 Middle Border win.

Ellsworth came out on fire and Autumn Earney sandwiched a fast-break basket between two deep 3's from Kaitlyn Nugent and one of her own for an early 11-4 Panther start. While the hot-shooting home team would cool off some from the outside, Earney kept the pressure on with drives to the basket along with 5 points apiece from Carlson and Hayley Bach for a 2920 halftime lead.

'Hayley really started attacking the basket tonight the way she did early in the year,' said Coach Janke, 'she went through a stretch of being sick and is now really getting back to being the weapon she was early in the year.'

The second half was a steady diet of what the Panthers have used to win 3 straight MBC games, as they steered toward another, but the visiting Blackhawks would not go away quietly. Despite facing a deficit throughout the game, the sophomore quartet of Brooke Klatt, Maddie Jensen, Anna Jordt, & Groskreutz came alive after the 6:00 mark to make a mad dash at victory. They scored 32 of B-W's 34 second half points, led by Klatt's 11 (of her 14).

While struggling from the free-throw line as a team, Panther Senior Kaitlyn Nugent nailed 5 of her 6 to calm Ellsworth, while Earney continued to finish around the lane, scoring five second- half field goals, as she was the picture of offensive consistency, scoring 13 points in each half for a game-leading 26.

The Baldwin press on defense had an effect on the Panthers, as their lead would get all the way down to three, setting the stage for the last 1:00 of play that was highlighted by Carlson.

'We played a real solid game,' said Panther Head Coach Jason Janke. 'I think it's always tougher to get wins the second time through the league and Baldwin-Woodville is really wellcoached. We caught them by surprise with some things in the first game and we knew they'd be battling hard. They have really played their best basketball the last two weeks, so it was a really competitive game between two teams fighting hard to remain in the upper half of the league at the midway point. We knew they were never going to give in, so you have to give our girls credit, we did not play great on offense tonight, but our defense continues to improve.'

Janke again singled out Puhrmann, Sophia Vogel & Brianna Giese for their defense.

'Our kids are really learning how to play together on the defensive end,” Jahnke stated. “We made a switch with Autumn a few games ago and that forced the kids to raise their basketball IQ. She (Earney) is really good at anticipating passes and at times we can get put in tough spots till she recovers if she 'misses'. We are all learning how to rotate to where the ball is most likely to go vs 'play our spot' and it's made a big difference in games, there's no question about it.'

Nugent & Carlson followed Earney with 13 & 12 points respectively for the Panthers, while Bach tossed in 6, with Puhrmann adding a basket, Giese one free throw for the Panthers' 60 points. The Panthers did not fare as well the rest of the week.

Thursday, they fell to St. Croix Falls 81-55 in an away game. Friday, the Panthers fell 5335 in a game at Amery.

The Panthers boarded a bus for the second time in 24 hours on Friday night for a showdown in the Middle Border Conference. Considering where the Panthers have been the last many years, this battle for sole possession of 3rd place was one of the bigger games in recent history.

Panther Captains, Kaitlyn Nugent & Autumn Earney came out on fire in the early going, completely accounting for the Panther's 25-23 halftime lead, each draining three 3-point shots apiece. The defending MBC Champion Amery Warriors were not to be out-done on their home court on this evening, however. Their senior leaders, Ella Schmidt and Morgan Brotzel combined for 16 second-half points to win going away, 53-35. Brotzel hit two 3's in a critical scoring spree that saw the Warriors take a lead they would not give up.

The Panthers were about as cold-shooting in the second half as they were hot in the first, managing a mere 10 second-half points, which included only two field goals. Earney led the visitors with 20 points on the evening, and Nugent added 13.

'For some reason, we just had no offensive rhythm tonight,' stated Coach Jason Janke, 'on one hand it was great to come out shooting the ball so well, but I think it almost lulled some of our players into thinking it was going to be easier than it truly is. Kaitlyn and Autumn were just on fire early on, and that is awesome. It's just tough to sustain that kind of shooting for 36 minutes. Our defense was actually pretty solid again, we just have to make sure we execute on the other end all night. Once we get there, we're going to be able to finish games like this one.'

The Panthers travel to league-leading New Richmond next Thursday, getting a bit of a reprieve after playing six games in a 10-day stretch. Ellsworth is now in the 4th place in the MBC, with four games left to play.

Photo from Ellsworth Community School District Facebook Page.