ELLSWORTH — The Panthers are kicking into gear at the right time, winning three of their final four games ahead of the postseason. Ellsworth beat Spring Valley 50-34, New Richmond 72-50 and Altoona 47-45, with a narrow 51-45 loss to Amery over the last four games.

“We’ve just had kind of a shift in the girls’ approach to practices and games. We’ve talked a lot about competing rather than just working hard, and taking pride in our defense,” Ellsworth Head Coach Haylee Yaeger said. “We kind of focused a lot on maintaining our composure in those games. Not letting those skilled teams rush us or make us frazzled in big moments.”

The Amery and Altoona games were particularly strong measuring sticks. Two close games against teams that are both 7-7 in Middle Border Conference play shows the progress the Panthers have made in recent weeks.

Ellsworth has built up calmness with the basketball, letting the offense come to them rather than forcing things that are not there. Yaeger said they have taken timeouts with the purpose of taking a breath and remembering the task at hand. On the court, sophomore Jenna Stoltenburg has been the calming leadership presence the Panthers need.

Another reason for the Panthers winning three of four to climb to 8-16 and 2-12 in conference has been junior Alivia Maher. She spent the first half of the season out with an injury and was slowly ramped up until she was back to peak condition. Now, Maher is averaging 11 points and 10 rebounds per game in 14 appearances.

“That was one of our biggest saving graces this year. She is just on the boards, she’s insane. Once she gets rolling on offense, and, honestly, defense, she’s just a big game changer for us,” Yaeger said. “Obviously, we would have loved to have her for the first half of the season… Couldn’t be more proud of how she’s coming back after an injury.”

Ellsworth, a No. 10 seed, went on the road to face No. 7 St. Croix Falls on Feb. 24, losing a heartbreaker by one point 51-50. Now, St. Croix Falls heads to Prescott for a Feb. 27 matchup in round two.

“We’ve just got to stick with what we can control. Staying calm and composed in high intensity moments,” Yaeger said.

Yaeger said the Saints play great defense and force a lot of turnovers. To avoid that pressure, the Panthers needed to be strong with the ball and to create offense through forced turnovers of their own.