The Prescott Cardinals were defeated by the Altoona Mountain Lions 69-65 in Prescott on Tuesday night and beat Amery on Friday night, 82-58.

The Altoona game was a game that Prescott really wanted to win as it was against a Middle Border Conference opponent, and winning meant staying in first place.

The Cardinals took an early three-point lead, and Ian Leask increased that lead to six with a three-pointer to bring the score to 13-7 after 3:30 of play. Altoona caught up quick though, and it took a Barrett Temmers’ deep shot to make it a two-score game again at 22-18.

The Mountain Lions rallied and went on a 13-4 run to pull out to a 31-26 lead. Max Monteith stepped up for Prescott and tightened that lead to two with a shot from the corner that was a pace outside the perimeter. Altoona extended their lead, however, and the Cardinals went into the half down by nine at 40-31.

Dallis Wallin got things going for Prescott in the second period by adding three to their score, but the game just kept sliding away from them. Down 48-38, Kyle Cogan added on to the three-point box score, and that’s when the defense really started to pick up for the Cardinals.

A block by Monteith resulted in a fast break for the score by Kobe Russell. Then came a series of steals by Mason Schommer, Russell and Temmers, and all of a sudden the 10-point lead was gone, and Prescott was knocking on the door at 55-53.

Unfortunately, they never got over the hump, and they fell just short of their fifth consecutive victory to open the season.

The Cardinals did everything well in this loss except converting from the charity stripe. They shot 44% from the field, 30% on three-point attempts but just 44% on free throws, which could ultimately have made the difference in this one. They also rebounded very well with 32 total and racked up 11 steals.

Russell led Prescott in scoring on the night with 18 points, and he also chipped in seven rebounds and led the team in steals with three. Wallin added another double-double onto his resume as well, scoring 17 points while leading the team in rebounds with 12 and assists with eight.

The game on Friday was a blow-out, and the stats were efficient across the board. Wallin was getting close to a triple-double by the end with 28 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Monteith also had a big day, going 9-11 on field goals and 5-6 on three-pointers for a total of 23 highly efficient points to go along with his seven rebounds.

Head Coach Nick Johnson says right now they are in a good spot in conference. It's early, and as the standings show, anyone can knock off anyone. He expects Middle Border matches to be a grind every night. 

“It was a tough loss on Tuesday no doubt. We had opportunities to win that game and didn't make the big plays when we needed it. Give a lot of credit to Altoona, they played a great game. It was a good learning experience for our players, and we bounced back great on Friday night,” Johnson said. “Our team is growing with each practice and game. Experience is key for this team. The more we play, the better we'll get. It seems like each game we have different players stepping up which makes us a much more potent offensive team.”

It's a short week for most teams this week, and the Cardinals played once, hosting Durand-Arkansaw at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18.

Ellsworth

The Ellsworth Panthers lost two games this week, one at home on Tuesday against Baldwin-Woodville 47-41 and the other at Somerset on Thursday 65-46.

It’s been a tough start to the Middle Border Conference season for the Panthers who fell to 0-4 on the year. Despite the loss on Tuesday, they shot respectably going 15-38 from the field (40%), 5-9 on free throws (56%) and 6-24 on three’s (25%). That efficiency dipped significantly playing from behind against the 5-2 Somerset Spartans, but better days look to be ahead for Ellsworth.

The offensive player of the week was Parker Woodland who led the team in scoring with 26 while going 6-7 on free throws and leading the team in blocks with four. George Rohl also had a nice week scoring 23 points.

The Panthers will look to right the ship with a pair of non-conference matches on deck. First, they will travel to Red Wing on Tuesday for a game which will tip off at 7:30, and then they will return home to play Glenwood City at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Dunn-St. Croix: Spring Valley

The Spring Valley Cardinals defeated the Glenwood City Hilltoppers on Tuesday in Spring Valley by a score of 60-33 and beat Colfax 59-45 on Friday.

It was the Cardinals’ second and third Dunn-St. Croix Conference opponents of the season, and it was their second and third straight blowout wins against said teams. Spring Valley has finished top-3 in the conference every year since 2015, and there was some question about whether this year’s team is as deep as the previous iterations. So far, those fears look to be baseless.

The Cardinals were relentless in their dominance over the Hilltoppers on Tuesday, jumping out to a 7-2 lead, and then pouring it on with a Trevor Forster three-pointer.

Glenwood City tried to rally back, but that got derailed with back-to-back steals by Cade Stasiek and Kaden Robelia. Jameson Bauer capped off a six-point run by Spring Valley with a three-pointer from the top of the key, and he did it again seconds later to bring the score to 19-9 going into the half.

Just 6:00 into the second period, the Cardinals had already increased that lead to 43-18. Trevor Forster added two more three-pointers to the box score, one from each corner, and soon they were approaching a 30-point lead. The game ended 60-33.

Spring Valley did everything well on Tuesday, so it’s no surprise that their box scores look good. They shot 51% from the field, 36% on three’s and 58% from the line. They also had a whopping 13 assists and 13 steals.

Although the Cardinals led throughout Friday’s game against Colfax, it wasn’t until the second half that they really pulled away.

Head Coach Rob Bosshart says they played well this week, but there’s still room for improvement.

“We still haven't shot as well as a team as we would like to, but we are taking better care of the basketball and finding better shots. And, most importantly, the kids have been doing a great job defensively. It has allowed us to weather some storms when we've had some scoring droughts, and it has also led to some easier transition points,” Bosshart said. “We aren't nearly where we want to be but on either end of the floor, but we are making progress. The kids are playing as hard as they can every day.” 

With this, Spring Valley advances to 3-0 on the season and is one of two teams to remain undefeated in the conference along with Durand-Arkansaw, but they will get a little break from Dunn-St. Croix play until after the new year. This week, the Cardinals will get the Somerset Spartans at home on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

Elmwood-Plum City

The Elmwood-Plum City Wolves were defeated by Mondovi on Tuesday 47-46 and by Durand-Arkansaw on Friday 67-57.

Even though the game against Mondovi was a non-Dunn-St. Croix Conference game, it’s still tough taking such a narrow loss.

The game started well for the Wolves who immediately jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Mondovi got right back in it, scoring eight unanswered points of their own to tie it up. Blake Allen broke the cycle though with a monster three-pointer from a good 5 feet outside of the perimeter.

As was the trend in this game, Mondovi once again tied             S it up. Besides that eight-point run, the defense showed up the rest of the night for the Wolves. Steals by Allen and Riley Bechel and a nice block by Lucas Glaus highlighted this effort.

With 1:45 left in the first period, Elmwood increased their two-point lead by six with back-to-back three’s by Allen from outside the line. Allen’s second 3-pointer was all of two full paces beyond the arc, and the Wolves went into the half with a comfortable 21-13 lead.

Elmwood would increase this lead steadily coming out of the break. By midway through the second period, the Wolves were up 33-21, and Glaus hit his own shot from downtown to stake a 15-point lead and under 11:00 to go.

That’s when the wheel fell off.

Over the next 6:30, Mondovi went on a 14-3 run that got them within four at 39-35. A couple nice steals by Allen would allow them to recover a little bit of that lead, but it would be short lived. With 1:21 left to play, Elmwood found themselves clinging to a 41-40 advantage.

Another block by Glaus and a steal by Aaden Birtzer kept them in it, but it was knotted up at 44-all with just 0:12 to play. Two more points wasn’t enough to do it for the Wolves because Mondovi put up three of their own for a buzzer beater of an ending to a game. Final score, 47-46.

Head Coach Kyle Webb notes that even though the difference in the final score was higher, their game play was actually far superior against Durand than it was in the narrow loss against Mondovi. He says that if they can keep up the good play, they’re going to continue to be competitive in every game.

“The Mondovi game was not our best performance. The team that played Friday against Durand was a much different team that I hope decides to stick around for the rest of the season,” Webb said. “Simply put, if we want to win these closer games, we have to limit our turnovers a little more and also play as a team. Both aspects were much better Friday night over previous nights.”

The Wolves do not play this week, but they will be prepping for next week when they will host a holiday tournament in Elmwood. Tip off for that will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 27.