Hermantown Boys Defeat Cloquet For The Second Time This Season

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Feb 8

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

For the first time in several years it was the Hermantown Hawks knocking off the Cloquet Lumberjacks for the second time this season. Hermantown had struggled for several seasons but over the past couple years under head Coach Michael Pothast the Hawks have been soaring and playing very well as Hermantown defeated Cloquet 65-48.

The first half saw both Hermantown and Cloquet building small leads as they tried to establish control of the game. There were seven lead changes over the first thirteen minutes of the game. It was a Spencer Johnson free throw that gave the lead to Hermantown for good with a little over five minutes remaining in the first half.

The first half ended with only four points separating the two teams with the Hawks leading 27-23. Cloquet stayed in the game in the first half with hot shooting as they shot 9-16 from the field for a first half shooting percentage of 53%. Hermantown shot fairly well in the first half also, connecting on 43% of their shots.

The second half saw the Hawks come out and worked to quickly build a larger gap between the two teams, it was however the Lumberjacks who kept battling and kept the game close for most of the second half. The Hawks finally pulled away from Cloquet late in the second half as they took a 63-45 lead late in the game to ensure the Hawks win.

The Hawks were led on the night by Spencer Johnson who finished with 17 points. Cory Kucza added 15, Corey Anderson punched in 13, Kevin Folman scored 10, Steve Borndal, Jeff Schade both added 3 points, and Zach Goplin and Brandon Shimmin each ended with 2.

Cloquet was led by senior Andy Wappes, who finished with 17, Zach Peterson added 10, it was Dillon Jonson and Adam Laine each finishing with 8, Trent Moe added 3, and it was Sean Ferrell rounding out the Lumberjack scoring with 2 points on the night.

The Lumberjacks fall to 4-14 on the season and they will face Duluth Central on Thursday night at Central High School. The Hawks improve to 12-7 overall on the year and they are in action again on Saturday when they face sectional opponent Chisago Lakes in a contest for section seeding advantages. That game will be Saturday afternoon at Chisago Lakes.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com