AlBrook-Cotton Splits Two In Proctor Tourney

Dec 30

Andrew Chalberg-NSO

PROCTOR – AlBrook-Cotton’s first appearance in the Proctor Holiday Tournament had mixed results for Coach Damien Paulson’s squad this week. AlBrook-Cotton took it on the chin in Wednesday night’s semi-final when the Warriors from Deer River beat the Falcons 75-47 but rebounded to beat Carlton 66-48.

AlBrook-Cotton did not shoot well, especially behind the arch and turned the ball over frequently with Deer River capitalizing on these mistakes, and raced out to 38-18 half time lead. AlBrook-Cotton was paced by Senior Bryce Karppinen and Junior Dan Wood who combined for 29 points in the losing effort. Freshman Dominic Janke added 9 and had 7 rebounds. Deer River’s Noah Kaczor and Danom Benham each contributed 13 points while Junior Jack Carter added 12.

In Thursdays 3rd place game, the Falcons faced the Bulldogs from Carlton, losers in the other semi-final to host Proctor. This time AlBrook-Cotton would come out on the winning end with a 66-48 victory and claim third place at the Holiday Tournament.

Carlton came out hot, starting the game on 15-5 run and held a 31-22 halftime lead. However, the Falcons must have taken Coach Paulson’s pep talk to heart at halftime, as they would finally break out of their shooting slump. The falcons went on a 13-0 run to start the second half to take control of the game in their favor. AlBrook-Cotton was a different team from the night before as their shooting, rebounding and overall team effort made the remarkable turnaround.

Bryce Karppinen led all scorers with 17 points and the freshman duo of Kody Karppinen and Dominic Janke added 15 and 11 points respectfully. Senior Kory Saver contributed with 8 rebounds and 8 points.

For AlBrook-Cotton this was a much needed win as they head into the New Year. Coach Paulson looks at some key games against sectional opponents that include Mountain Iron Buhl, Lakeview Christian Academy and Chisholm. AlBrook improves to 4-3 and will host MIB on Tuesday at home. Carlton will look for their first win as they will travel to Silver Bay in a Polar League Conference match up.

Andrew Chalberg can be reached at andrew@northlandsportsonline.com