Hawks hold on over Cloquet in Girl’s 7AAA

When Cloquet’s last second shot from beyond the 3-point arc rattled in and then back out elation set in for the Hermantown Hawk fan base and agony resonated throughout the Lumberjack cheering section.  The final score showed the Hawks winning 55-53, but it didn’t tell the entire story of a game that saw a furious comeback by Cloquet that nearly ended in their favor after a mad scramble just to get back in the game.

  The first half was all Hermantown as the Hawks were able to stifle the Cloquet offense and take a 27-15 lead.  The Lumberjacks struggled to hang on to the ball, and they couldn’t get a shot to fall when the needed it.  Attribute much of that to the strong defensive effort by the Hawks.

  Hermantown increased their lead and built it to 18 points at one point in the second half and it appeared the Lumberjacks had little answer on the offensive end other than the amazing play of Kassidy Steen.  The sophomore center constantly battled double teams, but still put up 25 points and was a force that created match up problems for the Hawks.

  While Steen was creating issues for Hermantown it was the entire Hawk team causing fits for Cloquet.  Led by Emily Neumann’s 18 points the Hawks had a balanced attack and kept the ball moving on the perimeter and were able to find the open shots when needed.  Carly Hanson added 10 for Hermantown, Jordyn Thomas recorded eight, it was four for Kianna Hren and Shania Bolen and two for Courtney Kaneski.

  With five minutes to play it appeared as if the Hawks had wrapped up the opening game of the Section 7AA tournament, but a time out by the Cloquet coaching staff appeared to change the momentum.  The Lumberjacks started to find the range of their 3-point shots and after a pair of Hermantown free throws the Jacks found themselves down 55-50 with less than 20 seconds remaining.

  The last 20 seconds of the game became a wild scramble that left fans exhausted, one team breathing a deep sigh of relief and the other team in disbelief.  The Jacks nailed a 3-point shot that cut the lead to 55-53 and with seconds remaining the Hawks struggled to hang on to the ball and Cloquet’s Breanne Baker was able to wrestle the ball away from Hermantown, and in a desperation move she turned and flipped the ball back to point guard Kaylee McMillen who launched a long 3-point shot that looked dead on line for a Cloquet win.  McMillen’s shot just tickled the inside of the rim as the ball was going through the hoop causing the ball to go half way down the basket before rattling around and back out.

  The scene on the Hawks sideline was pandemonium, while the Lumberjacks fell to their knees and were left to wonder what if?

  The Lumberjacks also got 11 points from Gracie Sinisalo, six from Hazel Erickson, four from McMillen, Baker added three, Sami Zeadow finished with two and Anna Fossen recorded two points.

  Cloquet finishes the season at 14-12, while the Hawks are 17-9 and will advance in tournament play to take on #1 seeded Chisago Lakes on Wednesday at Duluth Denfeld.