Esko Overcomes Lumberjack Lead to Win Monday

Dec 7

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

The Esko Eskomos struggled in the early going against the Cloquet Lumberjacks, but that was short lived as the Eskomos went on a 21-0 run after trailing 13-6.
They never looked back, cruising to the 65-37 win.

The Lumberjacks jumped out to the early lead on Monday as Annabel Morrisroe and Katie Pappas led the way in the beginning of the game. Esko dealt with foul trouble early on with Amanda Bergstedt sitting on the bench for almost the whole first half with two fouls.

Esko then turned the ball over to Keely Deadrick and she would lead an Eskomo charge that built a 14 point lead with less than a minute to go in the first half. The Lumberjacks poor shooting over the final nine minutes became evident as the Eskomos held the Lumberjacks without a basket for almost nine minutes.

“At times we shut down one of the weapons they have,” head coach Jeff Ojanen told Northland Sports Online. “When we got cold shooting nothing else went right and we struggled out there…Esko’s a good team; we just need to focus on getting better each and every game.”

Esko continued to roll in the second half after leading 30-19 at the break. The Eskomos outscored the Jacks 35-18 in the second half to win this one by 29. “Each and every win gives us more confidence,” head coach Scott Antonutti told Northland Sports Online. “Two nail biters told us we are a good team and we can win any game we play.”

The Eskomos were led in scoring Monday by Keely Deadrick who finished with 21 points, Amanda Bergstedt finished with 18, Savanna Trapp and Alyson Glumac each had 6, Katie Tonner would have 4 points on the night, Lydia Pelletier added 3. Julianne Carley, Danielle Salo and Steph Bandelin all finished with two points and Megan Reuer added one point.

The Lumberjacks were led in scoring by Katie Pappas with 13 points,while
Morrisroe added 12.
Kialee Kutter, Krista Schmitz, Sarah McMillen and Brianna Henagin all finished with 2 points on the night.

Esko improves to 3-0 on the season and will host Carlton on Thursday. The Lumberjacks fall to 0-3 on the season and continue their 5 game road trip to start the season Friday when they travel to Ashland to face the Oredockers.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com