Strong Second Half Propels Eskomos Over Cloquet

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Feb
14, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

ESKO- Tuesday night saw Marc Peterson nail a long range 3-pointer as time expired in the first half. The shot cut the Lumberjacks five point lead to two at halftime and gave the Eskomos a momentum spark that carried over into the second half as the Eskomos defeated the Lumberjacks by a score of 63-50 Tuesday night at Esko High School.

Peterson’s 3-pointer helped cut the lead to 34-32 at the break, in a half in which the Lumberjacks played one of their best halves of the season. The Jacks moved the ball well offensively, and defensively, they did a good job of holding the high octane Eskomo offense in check. Cloquet dictated the flow of the first half, largely to the success of working the ball inside to Adam Laine.

Laine had a huge first half as he led all scorers at the break with 18 points. Cloquet was hoping to continue the second half by working the ball inside to Laine, but the Eskomos turned up the defense pressure down low. Every time Laine got the ball in the low post, a double or triple team forced Laine out of his comfort zone, as well as Cloquet’s offensive rhythm.

The Eskomos capitalized on 21 Lumberjack turnovers, which led to 26 points off turnovers. The Lumberjacks, who connected on 57% of their shots in the first half, hit only 7 of 17 shots in the second half.

Esko senior Jackson Lindquist had another huge night for Esko, leading all scorers with 24 points on the night. Following Lindquist for the Eskomos was Marc Peterson who scored 18 points. Kory Deadrick chipped in with 10 points and 9 rebounds, Casey Staniger added 9 points, and it was Jared Harms who finished with 4 points on the night for Esko.

Cloquet was led by Adam Laine who finished with 19 points on the night. Trent Moe also was in double figures for Cloquet with 14, Dillon Johnson chipped in with 5, Sean Ferrell finished with 4 points, Zach Peterson and Gavin Takkunen each scored 3 points and it was Nate Weets finishing with 2 points on the night.

The Eskomos move to 17-4 on the season and they will be in action again on Friday when they host the Barnum Bombers in what could be a game with the Polar League Championship on the line. Friday will be the last regular season home game for Esko as they will play their final four games on the road.

Cloquet falls to 7-14 on the season and they will be in action again on Thursday when they face the ninth ranked team in Class 4A, the Duluth East Greyhounds at Duluth East High School. The Lumberjacks will be home next Tuesday as they will close out the regular season with the last three games at home.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com