Fond du Lac Nearly Pulls Off Semi-Final Upset LCA Advances To Finals

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 16

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

UMD- On Wednesday night Fond du Lac was looking to make history as they faced the storied program of the Chisholm Bluestreaks in the section semi-finals at UMD. With three and one half minutes remaining in the second half it seemed that the Cinderella team was going to knock off the legend and advance to the section finals. But the sleeping giant awoke in time to make a comeback and send Fond du Lac home short of a sectional championship appearance. The Blue Streaks defeated Fond du Lac by a final score of 64-62.

The Chisholm Bluestreaks came out fast in the first half using experience, good ball movement, and defense as they jumped out to 29-18 lead midway through the first half. Fond du Lac however didn’t get the memo that you’re not supposed to come back like they did against the Bluestreaks. The Ogichida would give the Bluestreaks all they could handle and more, rallying back in the first half and cut the halftime lead of Chisholm down to five points at 32-27.

Fond du Lac came out blazing in the second half as they took control from the start of the second and they went on a 33-17 run to take an 11 point lead with 3:37 remaining in the game. A Chisholm timeout followed by two 3-point baskets by Adam Vake and some other timely shooting saw Chisholm take the lead for good with one minute remaining. Fond du Lac’s attempt to move on to the championship game came up just short, as they failed to score over the last two minutes of the game. A shot from just past half-court which would have given the Ogichida the win was straight on line but bounced off the front of the rim, coming up about 6 inches short.

Dewey Dupius hit five 3-pointers for Fond du Lac as he finished with 19 points. Kello Brown added 13, and Travis Brown and Lee St. John finished with 11 points each in the loss. Tyler Simonson scored 17 points for the Bluestreaks, and teammate Adam Vake added 14 in the Bluestreaks victory.

Chisholm will face Lakeview Christian Academy in the section finals on Friday night, as the Lions defeated Mesabi East 75-60. The Lions broke open a close game at halftime by scoring 20 of the second half’s first 25 points. The Lions never looked back and rolled into the section finals with a 28-1 record. Andres Broman finished with a game high 35 points on the night for the Lions.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com