Esko Remains Undefeated With Win Over ML-WR

Click Here For The Complete Game Box Score

Jan 20

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MOOSE LAKE- With the #5 state ranked Esko Eskomos undefeated and sitting atop of the Polar League standings beside the Barnum Bombers, the Eskomos did not overlook the Rebels of Moose Lake-Willow River Thursday night as the Eskomos rolled to a 57-33 win in Moose Lake. The win sets up a battle next Thursday night with the two teams not only undefeated in the conference, but also in northeastern Minnesota.

Esko jumped out to an early first half lead Thursday with Alyson Glumac and Lydia Pelletier using the baseline to create shots near the basket. When their shots didn’t fall, sophomore center Savanna Trapp cleaned up the boards as the Eskomos jumped out to a 19-6 lead. Trapp also frustrated the Rebels early as a force inside blocking shots and forcing players to alter their shots.

The Rebels did make a small run midway in the first half as they cut the Eskomos lead to 19-13 behind some hot shooting from Maddy Adamczak. However, the Eskomos defense shut down the Rebels the rest of the first half as they closed on a 10-0 run to take a 29-13 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Eskomos came out fast in the second half as their pressure defense and some turnovers by the Rebels led to easy baskets and a quick 30 point lead. The Eskomos pressure took its toll on the Rebels as they went to the nine minute mark before finally scoring in the second half. Combined with the last six minutes of the first half and the first nine of the second half, the Rebels went fifteen minutes without scoring.

“They are a great team,” Head Coach Andrew Miller told Northland Sports Online. “I think we learned a lot tonight as well, we shut down one of the best players in the area (Keely Deadrick), holding her to only 5 points was a great job for us.” Miller added “We turned the ball over to much tonight, but we played hard and it was a moral victory with how hard our defense played.”

The Eskomos were led in scoring by Glumac and Pelletier who each had 14 points. Trapp added 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds and 7 blocks, Bailey Mudek added 6, Deadrick finished with 5, as did Marisa Shady. Step Bandelin added 4 and Megan Reuer closed the Eskomos scoring with 2 points.

The Rebels were paced by Adamczak, who had a game high 17 points in the loss for the Rebels. Adamczak was followed by Shaeyln Halverson with 6, Olivia Bennett and Samantha Johnson each added 3 and Shelby Halverson finished the scoring with 2 points.

The Eskomos move to 13-0 on the season and improve to 7-0 in conference play. The Eskomos will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to Pine City to take on the Dragons in a section match-up. Next week will be a huge week at home for Esko with games against Hermantown on Monday and #1 state ranked Barnum on Thursday.

The Rebels fall to 6-8 overall on the season and their conference record falls to 2-6 on the year. Moose Lake-Willow River will be at home on Tuesday night when they host Duluth Marshall.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com