PRESCOTT — Prescott boys basketball had some games that had a playoff feel to open their season, following a competitive 67-58 loss to Holmen on Dec. 2 with a thriller back-and-forth win over Hastings 83-77 on Dec. 3.

It was actually Hastings that got out to a 16-8 advantage early. The Raiders were running the offense through big man Lukas Foss, and he was finding the open players for open threes. Hastings actually missed their fair share of open ones, but made enough to get the lead.

Sophomore Emmett Otto decided it was time to take matters into his own hands, quickly scoring a driving layup and a couple of corner threes, aiding a Prescott 12-0 run for a 20-16 lead.

Junior Kobe Russell continued the push with a trio of triples and the lead was extended to 32-21 with 6:21 to play in the first half.

Disaster struck late in the half for Prescott, as Hastings simultaneously got hot from deep and began to force turnovers. Prescott’s lead was trimmed to 47-42 going into the half.

Both teams were hot coming out of the half, with Hastings tying the game at 54. Hastings then knocked down a pair of threes and led 62-56 with 12 minutes to play. The squads grinded from there, with some clutch shots from Max Monteith giving the Cardinals back the lead. From there, Hastings was fouling in hopes of missed free throws that they would not receive, granting the Cardinals their first win.

“It was a game of runs,” Head Coach Nick Johnson said. “The way we responded when we fell down, I think it was eight in the second half. We could have threw the towel in, but we just kind of chipped away, chipped away and made enough plays.”

Johnson had high praise for the Holmen team they previously faced, saying the team’s two-game start had a lot of positive signs for the year to come.

Getting a game that came down to the final minutes was crucial for the development of Prescott, especially for the young players that need to gain experience in a hurry.

“Huge, especially with some guys that have never played varsity basketball,” Johnson said. “We’ve got some kids that have never really been in that moment in a varsity game, so to be in this position early against good teams, it goes a long way.”

There were a few major scoring contributors, but the one that stood out was Otto in just his second varsity game, posting 21 points off the bench, shooting 4-6 from deep. Johnson said the coaches were confident in what Otto could become at the varsity level; however, he blew away expectations in terms of how fast he got there.

“A kid that’s just leaps and bounds further along than we thought he would be,” Johnson said. “We knew he was going to get there eventually, cause we’ve seen it the last couple years with him and even back when he was a younger kid.”

Johnson had high praise for Otto, mentioning a lot of things he does well do not show up in the stat sheet.

Prescott also saw key contributions from Russell with 19 points, Monteith with 16 and Gavin Peters inside with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Peters had a tall task of matching up with Foss for large chunks of the game, and while Foss scored 25, Peters held his own and made things difficult for him.

The Cardinals are embracing an early season grind, taking on five games over eight days to start the season. The key for them will be balancing the heavy dose of early season experience they are picking up while avoiding burning out the players.

To do this, Johnson said they are taking some lighter practices to stay mentally and physically fresh.

“Tomorrow is pretty much an off day and the next day is pretty much a walk through because our kids are exhausted,” Johnson said. “It’s a gauntlet right away, but I think our kids are mentally tough. It’s an early indication of what we’re made of.”

It is a long season, and despite the early positive signs, the Cardinals have a few areas of the game they are still looking to improve on.

“Taking care of the ball a little more we probably should, valuing our possessions, rebounding a little better, not fouling as much,” Otto said.

The team has had extended runs both for and against them this season, and Otto said it is clear to see what is going right when the runs are in their favor.

“We’ve been hitting our shots,” Otto said. “Just keep going at them, playing good defense.”