The game with the middle seeds is always supposed to be the closest in any given tournament. Monday’s Winter Jam opener in Hoisington likely played out that way, though in disappointing fashion for the No. 4 seed Ellsworth girls. No. 5 seed Victoria took advantage of just enough mistakes to escape with a 35-33 win.

“Through all four quarters I felt like we had lots of cribbies that didn’t go in,” said Ellsworth coach Ken Cravens. “As I told the kids, you can play hard but there has to be some efficiency, too. You have to play a little connected.

“It’s tough. The kids didn’t have school (Monday) and didn’t have school Friday. It’s tough to come back and play. It’s been two weeks since we’ve played because of the snow. It’s tough to show up and be connected.”

Still the Lady Bearcats remained in the game all night, leading 23-21 early in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws from senior Jaide Talbott. That lead lasted all of 20 seconds before Victoria knotted the score, then went ahead 26-23 on a 3-pointer with 4:44 remaining.

The gap grew to five points before Talbott added an inside bucket at the 4:05 mark. A Brenna Pruitt steal led to free throws and Ellsworth got as close as 28-27 with 3:41 remaining. The Knights answered with a long possession and another trey for a 31-27 lead with 2:50 to play.

Pruitt again played hero, this time with a 3-pointer. The Lady Bearcats had an opportunity to take the lead but a 50/50 call went the other way on a charge against Kenzie Stroede under two minutes to play.

Down the stretch, Victoria missed a free throw leaving the door open for Lakyn Tenbrink to tie the game at 32 with 54 ticks remaining. Victoria answered right away via a putback from Brooklyn Kuhn 10 seconds later.

Ellsworth missed two free throws with 12 seconds in regulation, but a rebound led to a jump ball. That Lady Bearcat possession resulted in a turnover with 9.6 seconds left. Victoria sophomore Melany Huser made the first of two free throws that could have iced the game. Instead, Tenbrink grabbed the miss but the Lady Bearcats failed to get off a shot.

Ellsworth did work its way into a foul with just 0.7 seconds remaining. Trailing by two, Pruitt swished the first free throw. Cravens called timeout to set up a potential game-tying basket on a putback. The play nearly worked but the Knights hung on for the win.

“It’s very difficult but we were so close to executing it,” Cravens said. “You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you have do to that, but that’s what you’re limited to in that scenario. You have to try to miss and get it up.”

Monday’s opener proved to be a lowscoring affair throughout, tied 6-6 after one quarter. Sophomore Natalie Rolfs canned a pair of threes in the second quarter to give the Cats a 15-11 lead in the second. Ellsworth hung on to a 15-13 lead at the half.

Tenbrink made her presence known in the third quarter with one of two Ellsworth field goals in the frame and six boards. The score was tied at 21 after three quarters, and Ellsworth missed several tries off the glass early in the fourth.

“It’s frustrating for kids, it’s frustrating for us,” said Cravens. “You do a lot of things, you draw up things, you get it executed and you don’t get rewarded. You can do a lot of great things, but if doesn’t go through the ring they’re not giving you anything for it.”

Sophomores Kassi Weber and Kaitlyn Windholz each scored eight points for Victoria, all in the first three quarters. Tenbrink paced the Bearcats with nine points and 10 rebounds. Pruitt added eight points, Rolfs and Talbott each scored six points, and Nicole Haase finished with four points and five boards off the bench.

With a seven-team bracket, Ellsworth falls to the consolation side against topseeded Otis-Bison on Thursday. With no seventh-place game, a loss there ends the Winter Jam for the Lady Bearcats.

“One thing you love about a tournament, water seeks its own level,” Cravens said.“When you play well or not, you usually find a level where you’re competing really well with that team. That opportunity is not here this year with only seven teams. It’s a unique bracket.”