Cardinals No. 4-ranked team in Division 3

Prescott has had quite the start to the 202223 high school boys’ basketball season. The Cardinals go into a 12-day winter break with a perfect 6-0 record, including a 4-0 showing in the Middle Border Conference, and as the No. 4-ranked team in Wisconsin for Division 3.

Despite averaging 85 points per game through the first six contests, Prescott head coach Nick Johnson still believes that his team has yet to play its best basketball, which is a testament to the talent he thinks is on this year’s roster.

“For a team that’s 6-0 and ranked No. 4 in the state, we feel that we haven’t even come close to playing our best basketball,” Johnson said. “We feel there have been a lot of gaps on defense and sometimes offensively we do way too much on two

guys and we don’t need to do that. But it’s a good thing to say we’re 6-0 and not even close to playing our best basketball.”

Although Johnson believes his team still has a long way to go, he was happy with their performance in the final game before winter break, a 97-66 thrashing of the Amery Warriors at home on Friday, Dec. 16.

While Prescott’s two superstars Jordan Malmlov and Dallas Wallin controlled the game, it was the Cardinals’ role players who helped build a lead through the first 10 minutes of action. Prescott sophomore guard Barrett Temmers buried a trio of three-pointers in the first five minutes to help the Cardinals jump out to a 1510 advantage.

Throughout the middling portion of the first half, all of the Cardinals’ role players got in on the action, including senior forward Brandon Stuart who buried a couple of deep three-pointers which helped build a 35-15 lead with eight minutes to go until halftime. Coach Johnson spoke about the role players’ success on Friday night.

“(Amery) was trying to face guard Jordan (Malmlov) and Dallas (Wallin) in the first half and take them out of the game and I thought some other kids finally made some big shots,” Johnson said. “Barrett (Temmers) comes down and knocks down three threes, Brandon (Stuart) gets going early, and that’s what we need.”

Throughout the closing stretch of the first half and the opening portion of the second, the aforementioned Wallin took the game over. He hit a couple of three-pointers, got transition layups running the floor and attacked the bucket at will.

Prescott put an exclamation point on the blowout win when Malmlov threw an alloop layup to Wallin, which he converted despite being fouled by Amery’s defense. Prescott’s student section erupted in applause as Wallin walked to the charity stripe to convert his and-one highlight play.

That sequence gave the Cardinals an 81-51 lead with 10 minutes to play in the regulation. Coach Johnson called off the dogs and pulled the starters a couple of minutes later and let the reserves cruise to a 97-66 victory to improve to 6-0 for the season.

Wallin finished the game with 27 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Malmlov, Prescott’s noted sharpshooter, scored just 12 points and finished with one rebound. However, his elite playmaking ability and unselfish nature earned him 14 assists in the win. Coach Johnson spoke about Malmlov’s selfless play.

“Jordan’s leadership this year has been outstanding. We couldn’t ask any more out of him. He doesn’t care who scores right now,” Johnson said. “He’s a top player in the state, you’d think he wants to get his (points) and he’s not like that at all. Even when he doesn’t shoot it well outside, we can still find ways to beat you. He’s having fun getting his teammates involved.”

With the win, Prescott goes into its longest break between games of the 2022-23 regular season. The Cardinals’ next contest isn’t until Wednesday, Dec. 28, when they travel to Hastings, Minn., to compete in the annual Hastings Holiday Tournament.

The Hastings Holiday Tournament is notorious for having some of the best teams throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin at its tournament. When Prescott won the 2017-18 Division 3 State Championship under coach Johnson, the Cardinals boasted a 26-2 overall record. One of those two losses was at the Hastings Holiday Tournament.

That means that the upcoming two-day tournament across the border will serve as a litmus test as to how good this Prescott Cardinals team truly is. Coach Johnson spoke about the upcoming holiday tournament.

“We’ve done it for seven or eight years and it’s always two games that really show us where we are as a team,” Johnson said. “We go in there and act like it’s a regional or sectional game because we’re facing two teams that will be very good and physically strong. Those teams aren’t going to have a lot of weak spots, so we’re going to have to play well and that’s what we need. We want to be challenged.”

Prescott will play its first game of the Hastings Holiday Tournament against St. Louis Park, Minn., on Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 3:30 p.m. The Cardinals’ opponent on the second day of the tournament has yet to be announced. Game time for that contest is set for 7 p.m.

Prescott sophomore guard Barrett Temmers queues up a corner three-pointer during the opening minutes against Amery on Friday, Dec. 16. Temmers hit four three-pointers in the first eight minutes and helped Prescott jump out to an early lead. Photo by Reagan Hoverman