The Ellsworth boys basketball team struggled to match Osceola’s physicality, particularly in the rebounding battle, throughout the 59-35 loss at home to the undefeated (8-0) Chieftains on Friday, Jan. 6.

Ellsworth’s limited offensive success against a talented Osceola defense, paired with struggles on both the offensive and defensive glass led to the lopsided outcome. For Ellsworth head coach Derek Staley, a majority of Osceola’s success came from second and third-chance opportunities after droves of offensive rebounds.

“Rebounding and just offensively in general, we’ve got to figure some stuff out,” Staley said after the game. “That was always going to be our weakness, but it can’t be that bad. I bet they had 20 offensive rebounds. It’s hard to win when that happens.”

Through the first seven minutes of action, neither Ellsworth nor Osceola could find an offensive rhythm. Ellsworth grabbed a one-point lead, 7-6, when freshman forward George Rohl made a driving layup that forced an Osceola timeout with 11 minutes to play in the first half.

Whatever Osceola head coach Tyler Olson said in that timeout must have worked. Coming out of the break, the Chieftains went on a 16-0 scoring run throughout the next eight minutes, nine of which came from senior forward Brayden Bradway. Osceola’s dominance resulted in a 30-12 halftime lead over Ellsworth, 14 of which came via Bradway.

Throughout the 2022-23 season, a majority of Ellsworth’s scoring had come inside the paint, especially senior guard Lance Gipford, who leads the Panthers in scoring with 16.4 points per game.

Gipford struggled in the first half to get opportunities in the lane. Whenever he slashed into the paint and got downhill, he ran into Osecola’s 6’10” senior center Carson Hollman, who blocked multiple shots in the opening 18 minutes of action. Coach Staley spoke about Osceola’s primary rim protector.

“Their length and athleticism is tough. You can’t teach 6’10”,” Staley said. “He does a nice job of protecting the rim and we found out the hard way at first. We can preach all we want that you’re not going to be able to get to the rim, but it takes getting blocked a few times to figure it out.”

Because Osceola’s center successfully protected the rim, the small forwards and guards played tight defense on the three-point line, knowing they had help in the paint. The Chieftains’ elite defensive performance limited everything the Panthers tried, which led to Ellsworth’s 59-35 loss.

Throughout the season, Ellsworth’s offense has often relied heavily on Gipford’s ability to penetrate and score at will. When Osceola slowed his success, the Panthers didn’t have an answer. Coach Staley spoke about his team’s offensive performance.

“I want to let (Lance Gipford) cook a little bit because he’s never been in this situation (as a primary ball handler),” Staley said. “I want to let him play so he can figure it out, and it’s just a long process in a short amount of time for him to figure out how to balance creating a shot and getting teammates involved. It’s on me to help him do that better.”

With the loss, Ellsworth dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-4 in Middle Border Conference play. While there are certainly lots of areas the Panthers can improve in the final month of the regular season, coach Staley spoke about how sharing the ball better offensively is going to be their number one priority.

“I want us to be a team that shares the basketball,” Staley said. “We need to move the ball, get it side to side and take better shots.”

Although Ellsworth has been inconsistent in many aspects this season, effort hasn’t been one of them. Ellsworth senior guard Jurell Gooden has been the team’s leader from an effort standpoint. Regardless of the score, Gooden regularly puts his body on the line diving for loose balls and trying to make plays.

“The effort is still great, Jurell (Gooden) is awesome,” Staley said. “He’s one of my favorite kids. You need a guy like him, but you also need some shooters around him.”

Ellsworth was slated to be back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 10, when they went on the road to face off against the 9-0 Prescott Cardinals. That game was slated to begin at 7 p.m.

Ellsworth senior Jurell Gooden takes an Osceola defender off the dribble during Friday night’s game. Photo by Reagan Hoverman