Cloquet Boys Open with Win

Dwight Cadwell – NSO

Photos By – Shelley Robideaux

The Cloquet Lumberjacks opened the section 7AAA playoffs Friday night with a 86-61 win over North Branch at Cloquet High School. The win was the second over North Branch in less then a month, with Cloquet coming from behind to win on February 7th, this time Cloquet took control from the beginning and cruised to the home win.

Mason Brenner connected on 6 three-pointers and finished with 26 points in the victory. Cloquet used the hot outside shooting to build up a 10 point halftime lead at 42-32. Cloquet continued to cruise in the second half as the Lumberjacks outscored North Branch 44-29 in the second half.

Zach Gerlach finished with 23 points, Nate Weets ended with 16, Gavin Takkunen chipped in with 7, while Brady Obeidzinski pitched in with 6, Brandon Hill added 5, Bronson Wehr had 2, and it was Bruce Turnbill with 1 point for Cloquet.

Kyle Burnside led the Vikings with 18 points, followed by Matt Bloomquist with 14 and Cole Pearson ended with 11 points.

The Lumberjacks will face Hermantown Tuesday night at Duluth Denfeld in the section 7AAA semi finals.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com

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