With the regular season wrapping up, teams are either looking at final games to determine championships or trying to win out to get a better seed in the playoffs.

Following this last series of the girls’ season, the playoffs will begin starting with the regional quarterfinals on Feb. 20, continuing with the semifinals on the 23^rd and culminating with the regional finals on the 24^th. For the boys, whose season starts slightly after the girls, their regionals begin on the 27^th and finish up on March 1 and 2.

Ellsworth girls

The Ellsworth Panthers defeated the Somerset Spartans on Tuesday in Ellsworth by a score of 46-34.

It was a solid in-conference victory for a team that’s been on a heater lately, winning four of their past five games.

Molly Janke keeps adding onto her own school record, and she did so in a big way against the Spartans dropping 28 points on them enroute to a double-double. Kayla Kressin and Morgan Halverson also had nice contributing performances as this team seems to have gotten their groove back just in time for the playoffs.

Head Coach Jason Janke says their comeback win against Owen-Withee really got them back on track, but moreover, the girls’ confidence seems to be back in a big way.

“We have played with some semblance of consistency the last five games, but truly I think we just ‘remembered’ what a veteran, mature squad that we are. Against a very good Somerset team, the kids came out and executed a game-plan very well, so I'd say if there's a difference, we are doing a better job of playing to our game plan for a longer period of time each game,” Janke said. “We all have let-downs, but the more you can limit a cold spell on offense or defense, the better the outcome usually is. Lately, we've been better at managing the storm and battling through any adversity.” 

The Panthers will now look to their last week of games when they travel to Prescott for a rivalry game on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. and then return home to take on the other Middle Border Panthers team from Saint Croix Central at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15.

River Falls girls

The River Falls Wildcats defeated the Rice Lake Warriors by a score of 54-50 on Thursday night in River Falls.

With this, the Wildcats snap a losing streak that has plagued them for over two weeks, and they did it by winning a tight game against a team that was 16-5 on the year coming into Thursday.

River Falls jumped out to an early lead at 5-3 when Hailey Quinn found an opening on the top left of the perimeter and put it through to add three more. The Warriors would push back and tie it up, but Quinn sank another deep shot to take the lead right back at 11-8 approaching mid-period.

At 6:30, the Wildcats were up 18-13, and Rice Lake was driving downhill trying to close the gap. Emily Van Ausdal showed her strong defensive skills, securing a steal and sending the ball back the other way.

The next minute of play was all Warriors as they hit a three, got the ball back and were looking to tie it up. Jordan Torrez and Abagail Treichel stepped up next for the River Falls defense, both with steals, the latter of which set up Quinn for another three-pointer that allowed the Wildcats to increase their lead to seven as the final minutes of the opening period came off the clock.

The second half started slowly for River Falls as Rice Lake took a two-point lead early. Back-to-back Kaelin Jalowitz steals and a Jordan Schwantz three-pointer allowed the Wildcats to take the lead back at 28-26.

The game played evenly out to the middle of the period with the lead fluctuating back and forth. Addy Timm put the Wildcats back on top by one with a three-pointer of her own, as the score rose to 39-38.

It would remain close until the end, with River Falls holding on for a two-score victory at 54-50.

Quinn had a huge game, shooting well across the board including a perfect 6-6 on free throws and 3-4 on three-point attempts enroute to a 23-point game. Schwantz also had a nice night for the Wildcats, including going 10-10 on free throws and coming up one rebound shy of a double-double.

Head Coach Ian Sticht says the team knew they were going into the hardest part of their schedule. Of course, they would’ve liked to do a little better and get a couple more victories, but solid wins like this against tough teams show what this team is capable of. He says they just need to stay focused on the present and take things one game at a time as usual ahead of regionals.

River Falls has just one more regular season game before playoffs, and they will look to keep things rolling and build some steam heading into the postseason when they take on Menomonie at home this Friday. Tipoff is at 7:15 p.m.

Spring Valley boys

The Spring Valley Cardinals defeated the Turtle Lake Lakers on Monday in Spring Valley by a score of 49-47.

It was the last non-conference game of the season for the red birds who are the still the masters of their own destiny in the Dunn-Saint Croix Conference as they are in a dead heat with the Durand-Arkansaw Panthers with a 10-1 conference record and identical 17-4 records on the season.

Cade Stasiek had another great night on Monday for the Cardinals, scoring 20 of their 49 points while also leading the team in steals with four. Jameson Bauer had a standout performance for Spring Valley as well with 15 points and contributing in every category along the way. Masyn Wolf also finished with a game leading 11 rebounds.

Head Coach Rob Bosshart says he’s proud of his team that has responded to adversity with alacrity in a season that has been challenged by injuries and illnesses and says he isn’t that concerned about playoff seeding.

“We honestly haven't changed our mindset at all going into the last couple of weeks of the regular season. I think it's really important to prepare the exact same way regardless of who we are going to play or where the games will be played. Obviously, it is nice to play at home in the playoffs, but we've had good success on the road this year too,” Bosshart said. “So many different guys have stepped up when their number is called, and we really haven't missed a beat. Our success this year has truly been a team effort, and it's been a pleasure to be a part of it.”

Up next for the Cardinals is perhaps the biggest week of basketball of the season. First, they get the third place Elk Mound Mounders at home on Tuesday before moving on to the game of games against the Panthers when they travel to Durand on Thursday. Both matches tip off at 7:15.

On a final note, this is exactly what the last game of the season should be; the conference championship decided by a head-to-head matchup between the two best teams with identical records in one final showdown for the whole kit and caboodle. If there is one away game that you should go to this season, this is it.

Prescott boys

The Prescott Cardinals defeated the Cameron Comets by a score of 75-45 at home on Monday night and beat Baldwin-Woodville on the road 69-64.

In their last non-conference game of the season on Monday against a team that beat them badly last year and had a 17-1 record coming into the game, the Cardinals absolutely spanked the Comets, defeating them by an even 30.

On its own, this win does nothing for their pursuit of a championship because it wasn’t a Middle Border game; however, Head Coach Nick Johnson says this has postseason seeding implications, which takes into account strength of schedule.

“Our Cameron win was outstanding. We played so well against a very good team, and it was a huge win for seeding purposes to try and secure a #1 or #2 seed,” Johnson said. “Getting one of those seeds means getting home court advantage through regionals. Getting a bye first round and obviously needing to win the second round to advance to the third.”

Up next for the red birds is a two-game slate culminating in the game you’ve all been waiting for. First, in their penultimate matchup of the season, they will host the Ellsworth Panthers, and then, at long last, they will travel to Osceola to play the Chieftains on Monday, both tipping off at 7:15.

They have been in a deadlock with the Chieftains all season until Osceola dropped a game to Baldwin this week, giving Prescott a slight edge in the Middle Border rankings and doing wonders for seeding considering the Cardinals won against the same Blackhawks team on Thursday.

It’s only a slight edge because if they lose, they will split the Middle Border Championship with the Chieftains as there is no tie breaker for conference champion in basketball, and the Cardinals want the banner all to themselves. With the championship likely on the line, this is the another away game you need to go to.