ML-WR Boys Remain Hot With A Win Over Barnum

Josh Cadwell-NSO

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Feb 4

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

BARNUM- Friday night saw the Rebels of Moose Lake-Willow River take a step closer to capturing the Polar League title Friday night. The Rebels and the Bombers played an old fashion knock down drag out battle with the Rebels ended up taking this one by a final score of 52-47.

In a game that saw 17 lead changes and six ties throughout the game, this one wasn’t decided until the final seconds as Taylor Mattison and Ryan Adamczak hit crucial free throws and a put back off a miss shot from Caleb Koecher ensured the Rebel victory.

The first half started out as a half of runs, the Rebels started strong by building an early 7-4 lead, the Bombers answered back as Justin Newman nailed shots to give the Bombers some hop in their step. Jacob Naslund and Luke Charlberg played an important first half role as the Bombers led late into the first half.

Trevor Nummela sank a basket with only seconds remaining in the first half that gave the Rebels a one point 26-25 lead at intermission. Nummela pounded in eleven first half points to lead all scorers at the break. Taylor Mattison, not starting in Friday’s game played an important role coming off the Rebels bench with 13 points on the night. Nummela led the Rebels with a team high 15 points.

“It was a great win” Head Coach Neil Dickinson told Northland Sports Online. “Rich always has his team ready to go; we knew it was going to be a battle and that’s exactly what is was.” Dickinson added “coming here and playing is always tough to do but we came through down the stretch and it was a nice win, the kids will enjoy.”

The second half saw the Rebels and the Bombers trade leads back and forth throughout the half. With the score tied at 46-46, the Bombers had an opportunity to take the lead, but a missed lay-up led to a fast break and a foul for the Rebels and Mattison hit free throws that gave the Rebels the lead for good.

Barnum managed one more point with thirty seconds remaining, but Adamczak and Koecher sealed the win on the road. “We hit some big free throws when it came down to the wire” Dickinson stated, “If we don’t hit those, this game might have seen overtime.”

The Bombers were led in scoring by Justin Newman who finished with a game high 22 points on the night. Jacob Naslund finished with 10, Josh Hogan added 7, Luke Chalberg ended with 4, Danny Warpala and Andrew Youngren each had 2 points in the loss for the Bombers.

Following Nummela’s 15 points was Mattison with 13, Adamczak closed out with 12 including three three-pointers, Caleb Koecher ended with 8, Nick Tokar and Jake Disterhaupt each finished with 2 points in the Rebels win.

Barnum falls to 13-5 overall on the season and will play at Floodwood on Monday night in a Polar League match up. Moose Lake-Willow River improves to 18-2 and they face East Central at home on Monday evening in a non-conference contest.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com