Hermantown Boys Take Down Hibbing

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Jan 25

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Hermantown Hawks used another great defensive effort Tuesday night as the Hawks defeated the Hibbing Bluejackets by a final score of 68-48 at Hermantown High School. The Hawks move to 2-0 in section play with the win over Hibbing.

“This was another great defensive game for us.” Head coach Michael Pothast told Northland Sports Online. “Our guys are really buying into the defensive system and it is showing.” Pothast added “This was a big win for us in terms of section seeding, we are battling for that #1 or #2 spot as of right now.” Other teams vying for the top spot are Hibbing, Grand Rapids, and Chisago Lakes.

The Hawks built an eleven point first half lead with the score of 34-23 at the break. The Hawks continued to play hard in the second half, continuing to add to their lead before finishing the game off with a twenty point win.

“Cory Kucza had another good offensive game,” Pothast stated, “but it is his defense that has improved this year. Corey Anderson is playing his best basketball on the offensive end and he is always one of our best defenders.” Pothast went on to mention “Don’t let Jeff Schade’s two points make it seem like he didn’t do much for us. You can’t overestimate what his toughness and defensive desire does for us.” Pothast went on to say “Jake Lesar was nice in the post and other guys like Brandon Shimmin and Steven Borndal chipped in throughout the game, it was a great team effort.”

Hermantown was led by Kucza who finished with 22 points including two three-pointers. Anderson added 17, Lesar chipped in with 14, Kevin Folman added 6, Schimmin had 4, Borndal contributed with 3, and Shade rounded out the Hermantown scoring with 2 points in the win.

Hibbing was led by Ezra Coughlin who tied Kucza with a game high 22 points. Connor Perry had 9, Steve Ericson added 5, Matt Tourville finished with 3, Chris Hansen, Ryan Latimer, and Nick Milani all had 2 and rounding out the Hibbing scoring was Chase Thornton with 1 point.

Hermantown moves to 11-5 on the season overall and will be in action again on Thursday night when they host the Duluth East Greyhounds. Hibbing falls to 9-8 on the season and will play at home on Friday night when they host the Proctor Rails.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com