Lumberjacks Lose Nail-Biter In Section Finals

Dan Saletel-NSO

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Mar 16

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

In what one fan stated “Wow, what a game” it was the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks overcoming a Lumberjack halftime lead to defend their section title for the third straight season and second consecutive victory in the section finals. The Thunderhawks beat Cloquet 62-56.

Cloquet came out and ran a triangle and two defensively to shut down the Thunderhawks two big guns, Michael John and Erik Stark, both of who were scoreless in the first half. Cloquet jumped out to an early 13-6 lead before Grand Rapids answered back and took their first lead of the first half at 15-13.

The Lumberjacks battled back regaining the lead at 21-20 with 5:50 remaining in the first half. Cloquet continued to roll, outscoring the Thunderhawks over the final 5 minutes to take a seven point (30-23) lead into the locker room at halftime.

“We played really well tonight,” head coach Steve Battaglia told Northland Sports Online.
“The guys played the best game they have all year, it just wasn’t enough tonight. Peter LaCourse and Zach Zezulka did an outstanding job on defense shutting down Johnson and Stark I was very proud of their efforts.”

The second half started with Grand Rapids and Cloquet fighting back and forth with Cloquet maintaining a four to nine point lead until the 8:00 minute mark of the second half. The Thunderhawks and Cloquet traded baskets over the next few minutes and, with six minutes remaining, a basket by Kevin Rabber’s gave the Thunderhawks a lead they would never relinquish.

“It was a total team effort tonight,” Battaglia stated. “Calcaterra and Jones played well offensively, Tim Defoe contributed down the stretch, and it was just a case of not getting the breaks down the stretch to pull this game out.” Battaglia also told NSO, “Our seniors came a long way over the past few years I was very proud of their effort tonight.”

The Thunderhawks took the lead at 51-50, and outscored the Jacks 11-6 to claim the victory and their third straight Section 7AAA championship. Grand Rapids will await the seeding process in the boys Class AAA state tournament and will begin action next Wednesday at Williams arena.

Cloquet was led in scoring by Chad Calcaterra, who finished with 27 points including shooting 9/11 from the free throw line. RaRa Jones added 9 points and had 13 rebounds. Peter LaCourse added 8 points, Tim Defoe finished with 6, Andy Wappes added 4 points Ben Shultz closed the scoring with 2.

The Thunderhawks had four players in double figures, led by Austin Pohlen with 18, Kevin Rabbers 15, Brian Akre 11, and Michael Johnson had 10. The Thunderhawks improve to 27-2 on the season, while Cloquet finishes its regular season with an overall record of 18-11.

Northland Sports Online would like to wish good luck and say thank you to this year’s senior class of basketball players for all of their hard work and dedication to the Cloquet basketball program. Cloquet’s seniors are Connor Stowell, Peter LaCourse, Chad Calcaterra, RaRa Jones, Zach Zezulka, Ben Shultz, and Tim Defoe.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com