“Right now it doesn’t feel like it, but it was a great year and I’m very proud of our guys. The kids bought in and dedicated themselves. Some kids even changed their roles for the best of the team and we came together at the perfect time. We just lost to a good team. I’m proud to be their coach. I love them and I’m going to miss our three seniors.””

Head Coach Nick Johnson

Throughout the year, Prescott head coach Nick Johnson regularly referred to the 2022-23 season as a rollercoaster. That ride ended Thursday night in River Falls.

Prescott and Middle Border Conference rival Osceola squared off in the Division 3 sectional semifinal in River Falls on March 9. The Chieftains dominated the Cardinals on the glass and rode second and third-chance buckets to a 67-52 win and a sectional final berth.

“After defense, our big key to the game was rebounding and limiting second-chance opportunities,” Johnson said after the loss. “We just couldn’t do it. They had two or three chances at times and they’re too good not to take advantage of that. That was the difference.”

The Chieftains snagged 39 rebounds while Prescott tallied just 23. Osceola seniors Brayden Bradway and Carson Hollman each grabbed a game-high 11 boards. Prescott senior Brandon Stuart led the Cardinals with seven rebounds.

Osceola’s Bradway and Hollman impacted the game in more ways than just on the glass. Their ability to alter the game offensively through shooting and post scoring demanded nearly all the Cardinals’ defensive attention.

Because Prescott committed so much of its defensive resources to Bradway and Hollman, it paved the way for Osceola’s role players to decide the ballgame – and they delivered in spades for the MBC champion Chieftains.

“You’ve got to double Bradway and Hollman and that frees up other bodies and you pick your poison,” Johnson said. “We picked our poison and tried not to let those two beat us up and the other kids made shots. Their role guys that we didn’t expect to make big shots, they did.”

Throughout the first half, the Chieftains methodically built a 30-27 lead, which they took into the intermission in large part because their role players hit big shots early. Hollman didn’t score in the opening frame and Bradway had just nine points at the break.

While several of Osceola’s role players stepped up against Prescott, none did so more than junior guard Ethan Hall, who played the game of his life. Hall went into Thursday night’s sectional semifinal averaging six points per game on 31% shooting from deep and as Osceola’s fourth option offensively.

Hall took advantage of Prescott’s defensive attention on Hollman and Bradway, as he regularly buried open three-pointers en route to a season-high 19-point performance that included 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc.

His efforts proved to be the difference in a game that both programs knew had razor-thin margins and could be won or lost based on role player performance. Coach Johnson addressed Hall’s season-high 19 points against his Cardinals.

“We were late closing out on him at times because we were doubling Bradway and Hollman,” Johnson said. “Then it’s back to pick your poison. (Hall) is a kid that statistically doesn’t typically do that, or you try to take away (Bradway and Hollman) who have done it all year.”

While Osceola’s role players regularly hit big shots, Prescott fought valiantly. Coming out of the break, senior forward Brady Block hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game 30-30.

Osceola senior Dylan Salewski answered with a three-pointer of his own while a Bradway layup on the ensuing possession gave the Chieftains a 35-30 lead with 15 minutes to play in regulation.

As the game hung in the balance in those opening minutes, the Cardinals just couldn’t find a way to get a stop and then take the lead. Whenever Prescott made a run in the second half, Osceola always had an answer.

“We just couldn’t find that one or two possessions to take the lead,” Johnson said. “They always had an answer and we just didn’t make any big stops and big shots and they did. We would cut it to one or two but we just couldn’t ever get there.”

As Prescott played the foul game late in the second half, Osceola’s lead ballooned to 15 points and ultimately culminated in the Cardinals’ 67-52 season-ending defeat.

“They’re a good team. We didn’t lose to a 13-12 team like Osceola last year,” Johnson said. “We lost to a team that’s 25-1 and is the fourth-ranked team in the state. It stings and it’s tough to find the positives – they just beat us.”

Osceola had its season end two days later in a 68-46 defeat in the Division 3 sectional final against West Salem, the No. 1-ranked team in the state according to the final Wissports.com coaches’ poll of the regular season.

Prescott finished the 2022-23 season 21-6 overall and runner-up in the Middle Border Conference. The Cardinals graduate three seniors including Jordan Malmlov, Brandon Stuart and Brady Block, all three of whom started this season.

Malmlov finished his high school career with 1,906 career points, the most in Prescott history for both the boys’ and girls’ programs and as a four-year varsity player. Coach Johnson spoke about Malmlov, Stuart and Block and their tenures with the program.

“I’m going to miss our three seniors,” Johnson said. “Brady and Brandon, what they gave us and how they developed and of course Jordan, he’s got one of the best careers in the history of basketball in this state. Not just Prescott, but the entire state. It’s going to be difficult going forward and it’s going to be weird without them here.”

While Prescott may not have ended its year at the Kohl Center in Madison as many in and around the program had hoped, the 2022-23 season was unquestionably a success in Johnson’s eyes.

“Right now it doesn’t feel like it, but it was a great year and I’m very proud of our guys,” Johnson said. “The kids bought in and dedicated themselves. Some kids even changed their roles for the best of the team and we came together at the perfect time. We just lost to a good team. I’m proud to be their coach. I love them and I’m going to miss our three seniors.”