A quick start was enough for Esko on Thursday night as the Eskomos took a 48-40 conference win over Moose Lake-Willow River in boys basketball.
The Eskomos powered out to a 33-17 halftime lead and iced the game by going 24-of-29 from the free throw line.
"We played a very solid first half, but we struggled in the second half," said Esko coach Mike Devney. "We seemed to hesitate offensively in the second half. We have a lot of players who do not have varsity experience and we need to learn to 'seal the deal.'"
ML-WR hit 14 shots from the field, which was three more than the Eskomos for the game, but the fact that Esko had 14 more points from the charity stripe proved to be a key to the big win in the Polar League.
Only one Eskomo, Scott Lindquist, hit for double-figure scoring with 13 points while three Rebels hit the mark in scoring. Jim Mach had 13 for the Rebels, Nate Zuk added 11 and Joe Bednar scored 10 for ML-WR. However, Esko had eight players in the scoring column compared to just five for the Rebels.
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"Our team is not huge but we have good team speed and quickness," explained Devney. "I feel it is the deepest team I have ever coached as we can go 10 deep."
Jake Olson added nine points for Esko, Kyle Hall and Kevin Rengo each finished with seven points, Tyler LeRoux and Micah Tengesdahl both recorded four points, Jeremy Syrjanen contributed three and Bobby Brungardt had a point.
Also scoring for ML-WR were Taylor Davis with four points and Matt Gunderson had a pair of points.
"Give Moose Lake-Willow river credit as they battled back in the second half," remarked Devney. "We need to become more physical if we are to compete with the top teams in our region."
The Rebels finished with a strong second-half surge in which they outscored the Eskomos 23-15, but the hole they found themselves in at halftime proved to be too much to crawl out of.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
