The Prescott boys basketball team improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in Middle Border Conference play with a 70-57 win at home against Baldwin-Woodville on Saturday, Jan. 7, which now gives the Cardinals a much clearer path to a second consecutive conference championship.

Saturday afternoon’s game featured the highest stakes of the season thus far for both programs, as the winner would take sole possession of first place in the Middle Border Conference standings with just over a month left in the 2022-23 regular season.

Although Baldwin-Woodville exploited some of Prescott’s weaknesses, the Cardinals put together a wire-to-wire victory over the Blackhawks. For Prescott head coach Nick Johnson, Saturday afternoon’s win at home against Baldwin-Woodville was essentially a must-win for his squad if they wanted any real chance at repeating as Middle Border Conference champions.

“You’ve got to beat (Baldwin-Woodville) at home. If we slip up and lose, then it makes that game on the road even more difficult, and Baldwin’s a tough place to play,” Johnson said. “Now with Osceola coming up who’s undefeated, to win a conference championship we had to win that game (against Baldwin) or we would have been chasing. It’s a huge win.”

Prescott senior guard Jordan Malmlov continues to put together scoring performances that would make Golden State’s Steph Curry blush. Malmlov almost single-handedly carried the Cardinals to victory with his 40 points on 15-24 shooting from the floor, including an efficient 8-16 from beyond the three-point line.

Malmlov and junior forward Dallas Wallin, the latter half of Prescott’s one-two punch, came out of the gate with guns blazing and helped the Cardinals build a 39-28 lead going into the halftime intermission.

Whenever Baldwin-Woodville made a run in the second half to trim Prescott’s lead, Malmlov quickly extinguished the scoring surge with a deep three-pointer or a midrange jumper. Coach Johnson spoke about how when Prescott’s offense went stale, Malmlov saved the day.

“We didn’t play that well offensively besides Jordan (Malmlov),” Johnson said. “Every time Baldwin made a run and pushed back at us, he would come down and hit a big shot. Teams don’t have an answer for him and I don’t think there is an answer for him. I’m glad he’s on our team because there’s no way to stop him.”

Malmlov led all scorers for the night with his 40-piece, while the aforementioned Wallin had 20 points, three rebounds, three assists and six steals in the double-digit win over Baldwin-Woodville. Malmlov and Wallin accounted for 60 of Prescott’s 70 points on Saturday.

While their offensive brilliance has certainly been the catalyst for Prescott’s 9-0 start to the season, there is a concern among the program that two players are having to do too much. Johnson spoke about the unbalanced offensive load.

“We’re worried that we’re being lifted on two players’ shoulders to do everything, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” Johnson said. “We’re more than capable of other players scoring and it’s a little frustrating because other players won’t step up and be more aggressive and shoot.”

Prescott had two major concerns surrounding its 2022-23 boys’ basketball team. The first is the unbalanced scoring load that Malmlov and Wallin have carried nearly all season. The second is the Cardinals regularly struggling with rebounding against big, physical teams, which continued against Baldwin- Woodville. Although the Blackhawks ultimately lost, they won the rebounding battle 34-12 over the Cardinals and remained competitive late into the second half due in large part to their dominance on the glass. Coach Johnson spoke about the rebounding discrepancy.

“They killed us in rebounding and they almost tripled us up,” Johnson said. “That has kind of been the issue for us all year and it’s going to be going forward. We’re undersized and we don’t work hard enough to get into position. Even if we’re undersized, it doesn’t mean we can’t put bodies on people to box out and we’re not doing that.”

With the win over Baldwin-Woodville, Prescott improved to a league-best 5-0, while Osceola (3-0) and Baldwin-Woodville (31) are in second and third place respectively. While the Blackhawks are essentially in Prescott’s rearview, the Osceola Chieftains quickly approach on the horizon.

Prescott is slated to travel to Osceola on Thursday, Jan. 12, for a game that will again have serious conference championship implications. As of Monday, Jan. 9, both Prescott (9-0) and Osceola (8-0) were undefeated. Coach Johnson spoke about the upcoming clash of the Middle Border heavyweights.

“It’s going to be a huge one, especially on the road,” Johnson said. “They return a bulk of their players from last year and it’s going to be a tough game. Unfortunately, we typically don’t play well there and we haven’t in the last 12 years since I’ve been coach. It sets up as a huge game.”

Before Prescott goes on the road to face Osceola, the Cardinals hosted the Ellsworth Panthers on Tuesday, Jan. 10. That game was slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Prescott junior forward Dallas Wallin shoots a free throw during a game earlier this season. Wallin’s athleticism makes him one of Prescott’s most efficient scorers and versatile defenders.Photo by Bruce Karnick