On Tuesday night the Cloquet girls basketball team mounted a furious second-half comeback against Hermantown, then clinched a tie at the end of regulation and finally won in overtime against Hermantown, 50-45.
Last week Cloquet split a pair of games and continues to mold into the type of team many predicted would be a contender in Section 7AAA at the beginning of the season. On Thursday the Jacks played a great game to defeat Bemidji by three and on Saturday the Jacks fell to Cambridge-Isanti despite a good effort by the entire squad.
After trailing 25-19 to the Hawks at halftime Tuesday, the Jacks turned up the heat in the second half defensively and came back from a six-point deficit.
Kami Diver tied the game at the end of regulation on a three-pointer with one second remaining on the clock to send the game to the extra session.
In overtime, Cloquet scored first to go up 47-45, Hermantown hit a free throw to cut the lead to one, but it was the Jacks' ability to get to the free throw line and make their shots that won the game. First it was Jes Vork hitting two free throws to push Cloquet to a 48-45 lead, then it was Vork again hitting a free throw to make it 49-45 and finally Diver nailed a charity shot to make the final 50-45.
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Diver led all scorers with 20 points, Laura Wappes finished with 10, Taylor Sautbine recorded eight, Vork finished with six, Hannah Roy chipped in with three, Nishah Dupuis added a pair of points and Ashton Johnson scored a point.
Megan Michelizzi led the Hawks with 13 points and Blair Murphy added 11 for Hermantown.
- In their 48-45 win over Bemidji the Lumberjacks built an eight point halftime lead and then held on for the win.
"It was probably the girls best game of the season," commented Jacks coach Brad Vieths. "We had great defensive pressure from Jes Vork, Hannah Roy, Ashton Johnson and Jill Rosenthal."
On offense Cloquet had stellar efforts from Kami Diver and Laura Wappes.
"On offense we were led by Diver and Wappes who both had double-doubles in the game," explained Vieths. "Diver had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Wappes finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds."
Nishah Dupuis also proved a formidable force for Cloquet with 18 rebounds and five blocked shots in the game.
"We've been focusing on quick starts," recalled Vieths. "Against Bemidji we jumped out with a quick eight points in the first minute of the game."
Vork, Rosenthal, Roy, Dupuis and Taylor Sautbine all finished with four points for the Lumberjacks.
Leading Bemidji in scoring was Brianna Pfremmer with 12 points and Ashley Erickson with 11 points.
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- On Saturday the Jacks fell 59-39 against a very good Cambridge-Isanti squad despite the 14-point effort from Diver.
"The game was closer than the score indicated," mentioned Vieths. "We were ahead for most of the first half and only down by seven with a minute to go before a quick drive and a foul; and then a last second three-pointer put us down by 13 at the half."
Cloquet trailed 34-21 at halftime, but again the Jacks came out quick and strong to start the second half only to have the Bluejackets shoot extremely well in seizing the victory.
"We played solid defense and offense. We just didn't shoot as high of a percentage," suggested Vieths. "Diver led us with 14 points, but even more impressive was the fact she was 50 percent from beyond the arc."
Also scoring for Cloquet were Wappes and Rosenthal with six, Vork added five, Dupuis scored four and Roy finished with two.
"I think we are doing tremendously well for a young team," said Vieths. "We have already matched last year's win total and all of our stats are higher than last year. I am proud with how the team has gelled and how hard they work."
Cloquet is 9-10 overall and they are currently in second place in the Lake Superior Conference.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
