Thunderhawks Take Command Of Section With Win Over Hermantown

Wes Vork-NSO

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Jan 31, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Grand Rapid Thunderhawks put themselves in great position for the upcoming playoffs on Tuesday night after the Thunderhawks knocked off Hermantown. Grand Rapids now controls their own destiny in the section standings as the playoffs fast approach. The Thunderhawks defeated Hermantown by a score of 58-38.

Hermantown did a great job defensively of shutting down Austin Pohlen, by holding him to only four first half points. With Pohlen not the offensive weapon in the first half, it was 6-8 freshman Alex Illikainen who took control of the first half scoring as he poured in 10 points in the first half to lead all scorers at the break.

The Hawks kept the game close in the first half despite poor shooting, only trailing by six points, 23-17 at half time. Head coach Michael Pothast told Northland Sports Online “Despite foul trouble and miserable shooting in the first half, we were within six.” Pothast added “We had great looks but guys just could not put them down, some were easy shots around the basket and others were good looks from outside.”

The second half saw Hermantown staying close, but in the end it was Pohlen who exploded for 19 second half points and Grand Rapids nailed their free throws down the stretch as the Thunderhawks pick up the big sectional win at Hermantown Tuesday night.

“We ended up 1-12 from the 3 point line for the game, and shot 33% total from the field,” Pothast mentioned. “A good deal of that is their tough defense and having two 6’8 guys around the basket.” Pothast went on to state “we still need to beat the better teams, and we will need to shoot better.”

Hermantown was led by Corey Anderson, who scored 13 points, Spencer Johnson added 8 points, Zach Goplin finished with 6, Kevin Folman added 5, Cade Zacharias scored 4 and Kole Zuidmulder finished with 2.

The Thunderhawks were led by Pohlen, who ended with 23 points, Illikainen added 18 overall, Mike Spooden scored 7, and David Liebe chipped in with 4, Mark Laughlin, AJ Watland, and Sam Smokrovich all added 2 points in the Grand Rapids win.

Hermantown falls to 12-6 on the season and they will play at Duluth Denfeld on Friday night in a Lake Superior Conference match-up. Grand Rapids improves to 15-3 overall and they will play at Sun Prairie on Saturday afternoon.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com