By Jason Janke, special to the Journal

The Ellsworth girls’ basketball team traveled to JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells on Saturday, Dec. 3, for a non-conference matchup with the Merrill Bluejays. Ellsworth’s sturdy defense and timely scoring propelled the Panthers to a 61-33 win to improve to 3-1 for the season.

The Bluejays boasted one of the state’s leading scorers coming into Saturday’s game, as junior guard Mia Ott was dropping over 25 points per game through five contests. The Panthers, on paper, would counter with junior Molly Janke, who was off to a solid start at 19 points per game for the Panthers.

Kayla Kressin, Morgan Halverson and Janke got the Panthers going early, but the ‘Jays wouldn’t back down as they fought to claim an 11-10 lead at the nine-minute mark of the first half. At that point the Panther defense clamped down, the offense began pounding the ball inside and Halverson crashed the offensive boards as Ellsworth went on to outscore Merrill 20-5 going into intermission.

“Morgan (Halverson) had a great half,” Ellsworth head coach Jason Janke said. “On the defensive end, Maria Harrington shut out their top scorer in the first half. I think that their team was shell-shocked at our ability to defend and clear the boards. Between Molly and Kayla alone, we grabbed 12 defensive boards in the half and turned some of our long possessions into baskets which was critical to our success.”

Molly Janke sparked the offensive onslaught to close the half with two three-point shots and Halverson dropped eight first-half points of her own.

The Panthers came out with defensive clamps firmly strapped around Merrill’s offense and a balanced attack in the second half closed the door on any ideas of a Bluejay comeback. Eight different Panthers scored in the second half, and Harrington continued to shut down Ott as the only two baskets the Merrill leading scorer came up with were on an offensive rebound and a late basket in transition.

Molly Janke led the Panthers with 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Halverson scored 12, with six rebounds. Kressin grabbed seven rebounds and accounted for five points on the day. Ashlyn Townsend helped out Harrington on the defense of Merrill’s top scorer and sank five points of her own.

“Our willingness to have some patience on offense and figure out ways to get the ball inside were critical today,” Jason Janke said. “We were down a player (starting point guard Aubrey Wittenburg did not make the trip due to illness) and everyone stepped up, as you have to. Ava (Brookshaw) and Jillian (Griggs) had some outstanding passes into Molly and we were able to finish more often than not inside.”

In addition to success inside the post offensively and efficient passing, Ellsworth also had high-quality play from Kressin defensively and Molly Janke remained poised against a tough Merrill press. Coach Jason Janke spoke about other strong performances on Saturday afternoon.

“Kayla continues to play great defense and Molly steadied us against the press, which is an area we really utilize Aubrey,” Jason Janke said. “We also thought that Morgan was a major difference-maker today. Her length on the boards and finishing on the break helped get us out to a lead in the first half and early second, she made some great plays. Definitely, though, the defense that Maria played on their #14 was the biggest reason we were able to have such a big win, holding a kid from 25 to four is really tough, but she takes that stuff personally.”

Ellsworth is back in action on Friday, Dec. 9, on the road against Baldwin-Woodville in another Middle Border Conference matchup. Baldwin-Woodville, Prescott and Ellsworth are the only three teams without a conference loss yet. Tip-off for that Friday night game is slated for 7 p.m.