Eskomos Boys Lose Close Battle In Final Seconds

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Jan 31, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Esko Eskomos lost as Sam Humes nailed a shot with seven seconds remaining in regulation to give the Denfeld Hunters a 55-54 win Tuesday night on the road. The Eskomos, who had trailed most of the game, went ahead late in the game on two free throws from Marc Peterson but the shot by Humes gave the Hunters the one point victory.

The Hunters jumped out early in the first half as they built up an eleven point lead late in the first half, the Eskomos made a run over the last 1:48 of the first half to cut the lead to five points at intermission. The Hunters led 29-24 at halftime.

The Eskomos and the Hunters traded baskets in the second half and kept the game fairly close. With a little over three minutes remaining in the game and Esko trailing 51-45, the Eskomos went on a 9-2 run and the two Peterson free throws gave Esko a one point lead at 54-53 with 14 seconds remaining.

The Hunters came down the floor and a shot fired up from Derek Meger was off the mark, but Humes was there for the follow up off the rebound to give the Hunters the one point non-conference win Tuesday night.

The Eskomos were led by Casey Staniger who finished with 15 points including four three pointers, Jackson Lindquist chipped in with 14, Kory Deadrick added 10 points, Marc Peterson ended with 9, and it was Jared Harms who finished with 6 points on the night.

Jodeston Robinson led the Hunters with 18 points, Humes ended with 14 points for Denfeld, Andrew Laughlin finished with 10 points, Derek Meger added 9 points while Sergei Hanka and DJ Richard both added 2 points.

The loss is just the fourth of the season for the Eskomos, all of which have come against class AAA or AAAA schools. The Eskomos will look to rebound on Friday when they travel to McGregor for a 7:15pm game. The Hunters improve to 13-4 and they will play at Duluth Marshall on Thursday night.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com