After a week of spirit and celebration, the Cats took on the Republic County Buffaloes for their homecoming game Feb. 10. The gym was packed as the Ellsworth Bearcats immediately put points on the board, leading 9-0 only four minutes into the first quarter.

In the span of a minute, junior Lexi West added 4 more points to the scoreboard and gave the Cats an early 13-3 lead. Freshman Elyse Haxton then stole the ball and scored to begin the second quarter 15-3.

Republic County scored six more points in the second quarter. A free throw added 1 point for Ellsworth. With only 10 seconds left before half, West made a basket that brought the halftime score to 18-9.

“Our shots just weren’t falling in the first half, but our defensive effort was good the entire night,” Head Coach Ryan Peschka said.

Shots began falling for the Bearcats in the second half. They entered the fourth quarter with the upper hand, leading 27-13. It looked like a clear win for Ellsworth, but they played hard to finish the game.

With only 2:37 left, the Bearcats led by 21 points, 40-19. West sank three free throws, then freshman Josie Kueser scored the final shot with 10 seconds left. It was her first time playing varsity. The game ended with a large lead for the Cats at 43-22.

West said she “benefited from the play of [her] teammates.” She also noted that “moving the ball well got it inside for open shots. We had good post-to-post action.”

The homecoming game was not only the third one in four days, it came at the tail end of the season.

“We handled it as good as I could have expected,” Peschka said.“I thought we were a little tired Friday.”

He added that despite it being homecoming, the team “has done a great job of staying focused and limiting distractions all year.”

“While Tuesday (Feb. 7) was a tough loss, I was proud of how our team fought,” Peschka said.

As of Feb. 13, the girls’ record is 10-7.

Ellsworth vs. Beloit

The Beloit game originally scheduled for Feb. 3 was moved to Feb. 9 due to a water main break in Ellsworth that canceled school.

Freshman Lainey Peschka opened the game with a 3. The Bearcats then scored 4 points to take the lead, 7-0. Beloit made a comeback, and with two minutes left in the first quarter, Beloit was up, 8-7.

During the second quarter, Haxton made two free throws to tie the game at 15 points. Both teams kept it close and started the third quarter, with the Cats leading 22-21.

Haxton banked a 3-pointer, followed by two more to put the Bearcats up by five.

With five minutes left in the quarter, the Bearcats led by 9 points. They kept up their advantage and began the fourth quarter with a score of 40-31.

The Cats stayed ahead of the game during the fourth quarter, leading by at least 5 points all 8 minutes.

Head coach Ryan Peschka said the team didn’t make any changes after (the Feb. 7) loss, other than “minor tweaks” to their half-court offense versus man defense. The Cats brought their best to the court with a 47-39 win over rival Beloit.

Haxton ended the game with 11 points, two rebounds and an assist.

“All the work I’ve put in outside the season feels so worth it to be able to share these memories with the girls on the team,” Haxton said.“I am so blessed to be able to help the team the way I do with how young I am. I just want to thank everyone who is so supportive of me. At the end of the day, all I want to do is grow the legacy of the Ellsworth Bearcats.”

Ellsworth vs. Minneapolis

The Bearcats girls’ basketball team traveled to Minneapolis Tuesday, Feb. 7, to play the Lions. The Bearcats came out of the gate with strong defense as Ellsworth senior Greta Klein sank two free throws, followed by a shot under the basket by freshman Lainey Peschka.

“We did some things better that we’ve been working on — ball pressuring and better defense,” Peschka said.

At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bearcats were down 6-4. A Peschka free throw tied the game 9-9. The young varsity player ended the game with 15 points.

At the half, Minneapolis led 19-16. Only 10 seconds into the second half, Peschka passed the ball to Klein, who was fouled as she made a basket. Klein then made a free throw that tied the score again, 19-19.

During the third quarter, Minneapolis made a series of shots to extend the lead to 8. With only two minutes left, Minneapolis was leading 35-27. The Bearcats battled to within 1 point, but fell short with a final score 38-34.

The scoreboard was close the entire game, but the Bearcats couldn’t cinch the win.

“I thought we all played hard and we fought until the end,” Peschka said.“We didn’t give up.”