Esko into Championship Game

Photo by: Carley Cadwell

The Esko Eskomos knocked off the Fairmont Cardinals Friday night 56-43 to advance to the State AA Championship game and they will face Annandale who beat the Eskomos in the third place game one year ago for the third place trophy.

The Esko Eskomos took advantage of 22 free-throw opportunities, succeeding on 18 of them and guaranteeing them a better finish than their 2013 fourth-place showing.

 The Fairmont Cardinals led 27-23 at the half but were throttled in the second half and held to 16 points.

A stifling defense forced the Cardinals to throw up a lot of threes—28 for the game—but they connected on just six.

 Fairmont was 16-for-51 from the field and went to the free-throw line just 8 times. Senior Kory Deadrick led the Eskomos with 21 points and 14 rebounds, 12 of which were pulled down defensively.

Senior Casey Staniger scored 18 for Esko, 10 of which came on free throws. The Cardinals will face Caledonia for third place while Esko will be pitted against Annandale for the title.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at Dwight@northlandsportsonline.com