ML-WR Boys Win 4th Straight Polar League Title

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Feb 19

Wes Vork-NSO

There have been several boys basketball dynasties in the Polar League over the years and we could well be witnessing the next one in the making. On Friday night the Moose Lake-Willow River Rebels defeated the Cromwell Cardinals by a score of 62-38 to capture the Polar League Crown for the fourth straight season.

Not only did the Rebels win the Polar League title, but they did it in convincing fashion by going a perfect 11-0 in league play. ML-WR also ups their regular season record to 22-2-0 on the season with two games remaining. The only two nicks on the Rebels record were back to back losses to Braham and Cass Lake-Bena back in December. Since then the Rebels have won 17 straight by an impressive average of 20 points per game.

The Rebels left little doubt from the beginning on Friday, opening up with a 37-15 halftime lead. In the first half the Rebels shot 41% from the field while a pressure defense held the Cardinals to under 10% from the field.

The next stanza got a bit better for the Cardinals when they matched ML-WR with 25 points each in the second half, but with the foundation for victory laid in the first half, the Rebels went on to claim the 62-38 win. On the game ML-WR shot 35% from the field while holding Cromwell to 17%.

Leading the way for the Rebels was Trevor Nummela, who was right on his season average of 14.3 PPG with 14 points on the night. Ryan Adamczak joined him in double figures with 12, Jacob Disterhaupt dropped 9, Mike Bennett and Caleb Koecher scored 8 points each, Taylor Mattson finished with 6, Abe Young and Jeff Hanson added 2 points each and Tyler Huso rounded out the scoring with 1 point.

On the Cromwell side, Pat Dahl hit double figures with 10 points. Jared Hutar finished with 7, Jordan Suhonen and Jake Ramberg scored 6 each, Mike Hedin 4, Austin Johnson 3, and Nic Cahoon finished the scoring with 2 points.

The Rebels will close out the 2010-2011 campaign at home with a March 1 contest against Proctor and a March 4 season finale with Hinckley-Finlayson.

Cromwell falls to 8-11 on the season and will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Floodwood.

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com