The Ellsworth Panthers lost to the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks by a score of 42-38 on Friday night in Ellsworth.

It was a tight defensive battle all night, and each team knew that the winner would command the sole first-place position in the Middle Border Conference after Prescott’s loss on Thursday.

Baldwin got on the board fast with two quick swish three-pointers to take a 6-1 lead. Ellsworth answered back with a two-peat of three’s of their own to take a 7-6 lead.

That was sort of the script for most of the first period. Baldwin pulled out to an 11-7 lead, Ellsworth hit a three. A free throw by the Blackhawks was followed immediately by a free throw by Morgan Halverson to bring the deficit to one at 12-11 with 5:30 left before the half.

Things stayed tight until about 90 seconds left in the period when the Blackhawks went on an 8-0 run and took a commanding lead going into halftime at 20-13. This came back to haunt the Panthers late.

Baldwin drew first blood in the second period with a three-pointer while pulling out to a 10-point lead. Halverson got a couple back at the free throw line, but the Blackhawks increased their lead to 12 midway through the final frame at 31-19.

That’s when the Panthers’ star player Molly Janke put the team on her shoulders.

Janke began a run of points by making a contested basket while getting fouled in the process. She missed the free throw, but got the offensive rebound and put it in. She then drew another foul, sunk both from the line and then ran it right back for another basket finishing an 8-0 run of points for the Panthers that put them in striking distance at 33-27.

Kayla Kressin got two more for the home team and was part of a team battle below the net that featured multiple offensive rebounds and ended in points to keep the deficit at four at 35-31 with 4:00 to go.

The Blackhawks got two more, but Halverson did more work at the line to keep the status quo. With just over 3:00 left to go, good defense got the Panthers the ball back and Janke put a big three up in the air and drained it to pull within one at 37-36.

Time kept draining off the clock, and the coverage continued to be tight. Unfortunately, a little bit of bad ball handling and an untimely foul allowed the Blackhawks to increase that lead back to four, and that’s where the game would end. The final score was 42-38.

Even though this was a loss for the Panthers, it felt like a moral victory for the team who refused to say die when they were down by double digits against a really good basketball team. Janke was the offensive player of the game, scoring 19 of the Panthers’ 38 points.

“I'm just really proud of my team. I think we showed a lot of grit and maturity with our game tonight. We were down by a lot, and we couldn’t buy a shot the entire game. We were really cold, but we hung in there, fought back and did everything we could, it just didn't go our way tonight,” Janke said. “Baldwin’s team is solid, they have a lot of really good players, and they just played better than us tonight. But, we play again tomorrow, so we'll get back on track again. I'm proud of how we played tonight. We fought hard and we’ll get us back on track.”

Janke is a senior this year, and her prowess on the court hasn’t gone unnoticed it would seem. As of just recently, she is officially committed to play college ball next year for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. This isn’t a surprise for Head Coach Jason Janke.

“When college coaches came to me, I told them what Molly's going to bring to any team she's on is a high level of maturity and leadership. I’ve coached basketball for over 20 seasons and she's one of the best leaders I've been around in terms of keeping composure, keeping kids positive, taking care of teammates and respecting others,” Janke said. “She's one of those unique players that, as a coach, you just appreciate the kind of effort that she gives every night. She has to force a shot here and there, and I'm sure people are barking at her in the crowd, but she doesn't let that bother her because she's doing what she needs to do for her team.”

Speaking of the team, Coach Janke says that even though they lost, they played hard against a good team. He says they just need to keep working the way they have been and focusing on consistently doing the little things right.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball better, and we’ve got to identify what's going on defensively for the other team. Offensively, we got a little tired tonight. Sometimes that happens,” Janke said. “Like I told the kids in the locker room, sometimes the ball just won't go through the hoop for you. Tonight, we just couldn't get it to go through the hole consistently. Then Baldwin got some shots to go, and you have to give them credit.”

With this loss, the Panthers are now tied with Prescott for second place in the Middle Border Conference. Next up for Ellsworth is a week of non-conference play with an away game at Hastings on Tuesday and a home game against New Richmond on Thursday. Tip off for both of those games is at 7 p.m.