Ellsworth girls basketball head coach Jason Janke has always said that his Panthers don’t shoot the ball well on the road against Baldwin-Woodville, and unfortunately for Ellsworth, that proved to be true in the 4536 defeat against the Blackhawks on Friday, Dec. 9.

Although the Panthers didn’t shoot particularly well throughout the first half on the road against Baldwin-Woodville, Ellsworth’s stout defensive performance through the first 18 minutes helped build a 19-17 lead going into the halftime intermission.

While a majority of the Panthers struggled to get going offensively, junior guard Molly Janke didn’t appear to have such issues. Janke got the game going with a wing three-pointer on the opening possession to give Ellsworth a 3-0 lead.

Janke also got downhill throughout the first half, as she made two trips to the free throw line and connected on three of four attempts at the charity stripe. She finished the first 18 minutes of action with a game-high 12 points going into the break.

Through the first 11 minutes of the second half, Ellsworth and Baldwin-Woodville exchanged blows and ultimately came out tied 30-30 with under seven minutes to play in the second half. That’s when Ellsworth junior Ava Brookshaw attacked the bucket and made a layup to break the tie and give the Panthers a 32-30 lead going into crunch time.

Throughout the next four minutes, the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks went on a 9-0 scoring run which culminated in a layup by junior Ryeah Oehlke with just over two minutes to play in the second half.

Baldwin-Woodville’s seven-point lead, 39-32, with two minutes to go proved to be too much to overcome for Jason Janke’s Ellsworth Panthers. The shooting woes that he’s spoken of in recent years at Baldwin-Woodville came to fruition in the second half.

Throughout the final 18 minutes of play, only two Ellsworth Panthers scored, the aforementioned Molly Janke and sophomore guard Morgan Halverson who had eight and nine points respectively in the second half. Molly Janke finished with 20 and Halverson tallied 11 in the 45-36 loss.

“We just didn’t play well on offense in the second half, as indicated by the low number of points,” Jason Janke said after the game. “We played solid defense and good defense, but they got some free throws at the end and we weren’t able to do that.”

Ellsworth’s best offense of the second half came in those opening couple of minutes when the Panthers and Blackhawks traded buckets regularly. That’s when Ellsworth’s zone defense produced a couple of steals and got the aforementioned Halverson out in transition for easy layups.

When the Panthers’ defense couldn’t produce easy looks for the offense, points came at a premium. Coach Janke spoke about not shooting well in a tough road environment.

“No fault to our kids. They busted their tail, we just didn’t shoot the ball well,” Jason Janke said. “It’s a tough place to shoot. We don’t typically shoot that well out here and tonight was no different.”

Molly Janke has spent the last two seasons as Ellsworth’s primary scorer. Throughout the first several games of the 2022-23 season, Halverson has emerged as the latter half of a one-two punch with Molly Janke. Her ball handling skills, and ability to get downhill and play active defense have made her an integral part of the Panthers’ roster.

“Morgan (Halverson) played well and she’s done a really good job,” Jason Janke said. “She is starting to be Molly’s answer to having Autumn (Earney) a couple of years ago. She’s getting out in front, giving nice long passes, she’s doing really well.”

Although Halverson certainly proved to be Ellsworth’s bright spot in the second half, the offensive efficiency of everyone but Molly Janke and Halverson appeared to be an issue. For Jason Janke, the hope is to get his girls more confidence so they step up and hit shots in rhythm without hesitation.

“I hope our kids develop the confidence and go out and are willing to go out and shoot the ball more in rhythm,” Jason Janke said. “We need to have shooting be a little less of a secondary thought. They’ll do that and this game got tight, so we had even more trepidation in terms of shooting.”

Ellsworth will look to build confidence throughout the week, as the Panthers are slated to play four games in six days between Monday, Dec. 12, and Saturday, Dec. 17. The first of those is at home against Owen-Withee in a non-conference matchup on Monday night. That game will begin at 7 p.m.

Ellsworth senior Ashlyn Townsend drives into the lane and makes a layup during the Panthers’ road game against Baldwin-Woodville on Friday, Dec. 9. Photo by Gaylen Bicking