When Prescott junior Dallas Wallin slammed home an alley-oop dunk off the backboard via senior Jordan Malmlov’s pass, it put an exclamation point on one of the most dominant scoring runs in recent Middle Border Conference memory.

After a lackluster first half in which Prescott struggled defensively, the Cardinals took a one-point lead, 45-44, going into the final 18 minutes of regulation. That’s when Prescott kicked it into sixth gear and went on a 36-2 run that spanned nearly 13 minutes and buried any chance of an Ellsworth victory.

When Prescott’s scoring salvo finally concluded, only five minutes remained in regulation, the Cardinals had all but sealed a win and head coach Nick Johnson had pulled most of the starters. The Cardinals cruised through the remaining minutes and secured an 85-56 win to improve to 10-0 overall and a league-best 6-0 in Middle Border play.

For Prescott, Tuesday night’s game was a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performance. The Cardinals struggled in their man-to-man defense throughout the first half and allowed 44 points to an Ellsworth team that scores approximately 50 points per game. Coach Johnson credited Ellsworth players and coaching staff for the hot start.

“Ellsworth came out and played a great half. They shot it well, broke us down and did anything they wanted to,” Johnson said. “A lot of it though is because we just don’t play our man-to-man defense well. This isn’t the first time it's gotten cooked, we gave up 80 to Somerset in the first game of the year. We can’t figure it out and we’re going to stop wasting time on it.”

Derek Staley’s Ellsworth Panthers certainly took advantage of Prescott’s man-to-man defense in the first half and played 18 minutes of their best basketball of the season. Senior guard Lance Gipford regularly slashed into the lane for layups and then when the defense collapsed, kicked it out to open shooters who buried threes early and often.

Prescott and Ellsworth played to a 9-9 tie just three minutes into the first half. That’s when Ellsworth senior guard Kaeden Graff hit a corner three-pointer to give the Panthers a 12-9 lead. Shortly thereafter, senior Jurell Gooden hit a mid-range jumper, Gipford nailed a pair of free throws and then a step-back three-pointer that gave Ellsworth a 19-12 lead and forced a Prescott timeout.

Ellworth battled throughout the first half and held a lead for more than 17 minutes, before Prescott hit a late three-point to take a 45-44 lead going into the intermission. Staley spoke about the team's excellent first half.

“We shared the ball, hit shots and got a lot of open looks because we were sharing the ball and cutting hard, some of the things we practice kind of showed for the first time in a while,” Staley said. “That’s certainly the best first half we’ve played offensively all year. They’ve got two of the best players in the conference – maybe in the state – and (Malmlov) is a borderline Division 1 guy, we’ve just got to hope to slow him down.”

For Staley, going toe-to-toe with a No. 3-ranked undefeated Prescott team on the road is a big accomplishment for a young team, even if it only lasted one half. He spoke about his team’s potential.

“I think that first half – I told them at halftime that’s what we’re capable of,” Staley recalled. “They went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the state. Whether (Prescott) played a good half or not, we were right there. That’s the recipe for success.”

After an early Ellsworth layup to give the Panthers a 46-45 advantage. It was the last time the Panthers led all night. Like a vintage muscle car, Prescott kicked it into sixth gear and strung together a 36-2 run that included multiple Malmlov three-pointers and a pair of Wallin dunks that sent the Cardinals’ student section into a frenzy.

No amount of Ellsworth timeouts was going to slow down Prescott’s momentum in the second half. For coach Johnson, the spark came during the halftime discussion when his staff and players agreed to switch from man-to-man defense back into the 1-3-1 zone that they’ve used to dominate throughout the season.

In those final 18 minutes of regulation, Prescott outscored Ellsworth by 28 and limited the Panthers to just 10 total points. Coach Johnson spoke about his team’s second-half success once they switched to zone.

“No disrespect to Ellsworth at all, but we knew when we put (the zone) on, it was going to be successful,” Johnson said. “We wanted our kids to figure out the man-to-man, but at halftime when it comes down to it, we’ve got to win the game. We installed (the zone) and went on a 36-2 run. We didn’t know it would be that successful, but we knew it would work.”

While Prescott unquestionably played an excellent second half, coach Staley felt as if a lot of the Panthers’ issues in those final 18 minutes were self-inflicted. He spoke about what went wrong.

“We probably had more turnovers than points. Just making a lot of silly basketball plays,” Staley said. “Like faking a pass and then throwing the pass to the same spot – that’s a little maddening. But we’re going to learn from it and get better.”

The aforementioned Malmlov led all scorers Tuesday night with 27, while seniors Brandon Stuart and Brady Block tallied 17 and 15 respectively. Wallin finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and eight steals in the blowout win.

Prescott is back in action on Thursday, Jan. 12, on the road against the undefeated (9-0) Osceola Chieftains. Tip-off for that contest is slated for 7 p.m.