ELLSWORTH — Down 50-43 with two minutes to play on the defensive end of the court, Prescott boys basketball needed someone to step up big time in Ellsworth to come back against their rivals. Luckily for the Cardinals, they got just what they needed Saturday.

A quick steal from senior Max Monteith was dished to the wing to junior Emmett Otto for a triple. Just as Ellsworth took the ball across half court, senior Kobe Russell got a steal of his own, handing the ball off to Otto who took it right up the court and drilled a top of the key three-pointer. In the blink of an eye, Ellsworth’s lead was trimmed to 50-49 with 1:32 to play.

“That kid is clutch. Always has the green light. He’s going to shoot it, and that’s what we tell him to do. He thrives in those moments,” Russell said.

The Cardinals got another stop and a free throw from Eyan Miller to tie the game at 50 with just under a minute to play. On the following possession, a great look in the corner for the Panthers fell just wide, giving Prescott about 30 seconds to score.

“The game’s never over number one, and we’ve been on the other end of it,” Prescott Head Coach Nick Johnson said. “Especially in our conference, you just can’t give up, keep fighting, because our conference is so good this year. If you fall behind, don’t play well, you can still find a way to win the game.

Johnson called a timeout, but nothing was opening up. A loose ball was recovered by the Cardinals, leading Johnson to take a second timeout with 6.9 seconds remaining. The inbounds pass was floated to Russell near half court, but Ellsworth senior Gavin Klos made a leaping deflection which was again recovered by Prescott. Johnson called yet another timeout with 4.9 to go.

The third time was the charm, passing the ball to Russell, who took a power dribble to his left, pulled up from the free throw line and found nothing but the bottom of the net.

“The coaches pointed at me, told me to take a shot. I had full confidence in myself,” Russell said. “Shoutout to my teammates for getting us in that spot to even be in position.”

The game featured a ton of physicality, with neither team letting their rival get something easy.

“[The Panthers] were very good defensively. They’re a good team,” Johnson said. “We didn’t have a lot of things go right for us tonight besides the last two, three minutes, but the kids found a way… It was a grind, and you always figured it was going to be with these guys.”

Both Johnson and Russell said the win was important because of the ups and downs they have faced recently. Prescott recently went on a three-game losing streak against Somerset, Osceola and Freedom, the Cardinals beat Wausau West and Baldwin-Woodville, but it was two teams they were expecting to beat by larger margins than they did. The Ellsworth game finally felt like the one that put them back in the positive.

“It means a lot. You could say we’ve been struggling a little bit, not playing to where we want to play at, but we’re going to get there and I’ve got so much confidence in this team,” Russell said.

Johnson said they were not knocking down threes, which is usually their strong suit. Both teams got after it defensively, and Johnson was proud of the Cardinals for not throwing in the towel. He said they have been on the other end of games like Saturday’s, including the loss to Somerset.

“The biggest thing is believe in yourself, believe in your ability and find a way,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely a monster win for us.”

Prescott is 10-4 on the year with a 4-2 conference record and Ellsworth is 6-7 with a 2-4 conference record.