ML-WR Score Huge Conf Win Over Esko

Paul Gregersen-For NSO

Jan 22

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

In a huge Polar League match up in Moose lake on Friday night, it was a battle of the top two teams in the conference. In the end, the Rebels took a firm hand on their way to the conference championship by beating Esko 70-58. Entering the game, the Rebels were 7-0 in conference play and had 26 points, while Esko was 4-0 with 16 points. With the win, the Rebels are now in position to capture their second straight crown.

The Eskomos jumped out to an early lead in the opening minutes of the first half, but the Rebels used hot outside shooting, good ball movement and Esko’s mistakes to take get ahead and never trail again. ML-WR led at halftime 29-24, despite being out rebounded by the much smaller Eskomos.

“We needed to win the turnover battle,” Rebels’ head coach Neil Dickinson told Northland Sports Online. “Esko is a quick and very well coached team. This was a huge win for us as we continue on with our schedule.”
He continued, “We really wanted this game and was nice to win here at home.”

The second half saw the Rebels pull away and build a 14 point lead with 8 minutes remaining. The Eskomos did not go away quietly, however, fighting back and cutting the Rebels’ lead to one with a layup from Jake Stainbrook with 2 minutes remaining. The Eskomos didn’t get any closer though because the Rebels hit their free throws and had a few easy lay-ups in the last few seconds of the game.

ML-WR used a balanced scoring attack, putting three players in double figures. Austin Jacobson and Trevor Nummela both finished with 17 points on the night and Ryan Adamczak scored 13.
Other Rebels scoring included Caleb Koecher with 9, Lucas Probst 7, Taylor Mattison scored 4 and Rudy Ketchum ended with 3 points.

Jake Stainbrook was the game’s leading scorer with 29 points for the Eskomos.
Adam Eskuri added 17, Jackson Lindquist scored 6, Marc Peterson finished with 4, and Cody Townsend ended with 2. The Eskomos fall to 8-6 on the season and are in action Friday when they face Barnum. The Rebels win their 7th game in a row and improve their record to 12-3. They will play again when they host Duluth Marshall at home on Tuesday night.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@norhtlandsportsonline.com