Rebels Knock Eskomos From The Unbeaten Ranks

Wes Vork-NSO

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Jan 21

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

ESKO- “It’s a sign of unity” Taylor Mattison told Northland Sports Online. “We decided to cut our hair short, to show we are one as a team and it showed tonight.” Mattison added “we were one unit tonight it was a great win.” The win Mattison was talking about was Moose Lake-Willow River’s 59-52 road victory over Esko that knocked the Esko Eskomos from the ranks of the undefeated on Friday.

In a game that was a true team effort the Rebels showed why they should be a team of a top ten ranking as they improve to 13-2 on the season. The only two losses were games the Rebels had leads in which both Braham and Cass Lake-Bena snuck out wins against the Rebels.

Moose Lake-Willow River started off strong Friday night, jumping out to an early eight point lead at 26-18 by using a strong inside game and balanced scoring. Mattison and Caleb Koecher took care of the inside as the Eskomos were forced to alter many of their shots.

“We played great team defense” Trevor Nummela told NSO. “We worked all week (in practice) on defense, it was all about hard work, contesting shots and getting hands in their face.” Nummela did an outstanding job defensively as he held one of the area’s top scorers in Jake Stainbrook to only 5 points on the night. “They are a great team so we had to play well on both ends of the court tonight,” Nummela added.

The early lead by the Rebels was cut into quickly by the Eskomos as hot outside shooting and some turnovers let the Eskomos take a two point 30-28 lead at halftime. All in all, the close contest featured 14 lead changes and 5 ties. Once again it was good team defense that allowed the Rebels to break a 43-43 tie and regain the lead that they would hold on to until the end.

“It was all about the defense tonight,” Head coach Neil Dickinson told NSO, “The kids worked so hard all week in practice, we knew this was the best team we faced so far this year and were very happy to come away with the win.” Dickinson added “I thought Ryan Adamczak did a great job defensively as he had two tough assignments, shutting down Jackson Lindquist in the first half and Adam Eskuri in the second half.”

The Eskomos tried to chip away at the lead of Moose Lake-Willow River but again it was the Rebels who capitalized on missed shots down the stretch as they sealed the victory from the free throw line late in the game, after Esko had to continue to foul to keep the game close.

Mattison led the Rebels with 17 points on the night in the victory; he also added 13 rebounds as well. Nummela scored 15 points and Koecher added 10 for the Rebels. Adam Eskuri led the Eskomos with a game high 18 points and Jarred Harms finished with 12 in the losing effort.

The Rebels moved to 13-2 on the season and they will play at Duluth Marshall on Tuesday night. The Eskomos fall to 12-1 overall. They will play at Mora on Tuesday night. The win distances the Rebels atop the Polar League standings with an 8-0 record and 30 points.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com