Mountain Iron-Buhl made it 12 section titles in 13 years, cruising to another Section 7A title by defeating Cromwell-Wright 67-38 in the section championship game on Friday night, March 10, in Hibbing.
The Rangers scored the first eight points and led 33-20 at halftime before hitting the afterburners in the second half.
MI-B (27-3) will enter the state tournament as the top-ranked team in Class A media polling, though the brackets for next week's state tournament will be released on Saturday. No. 5-ranked BOLD took out No. 2 Mayer Lutheran and No. 3 Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, but the field includes several retuers, including Minneota, which knocked the Rangers out in the quarterfinals last year, and 2022 semifinalists Hayfield.
Section 5A
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 76, Barnum 50
Barnum's attempt to join that field as Section 5A champion was short-circuited by Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, which grabbed a section title game win at St. John's University in Collegeville.
The Bombers got into a big early hole, trailing 42-23 at the half.
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Rayna Klejeski capped her Barnum career with a team-high 18 points, while Allison Marine added 12.
Brooklyn Fischer, with 22 points, was one of three BBE players in double figures in scoring, with Abby Berge contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Hermantown 80, Cloquet 58
The Hawks had too much offense from too many places on Friday night, rolling past the into the Section 7AAA final.
Three different Hawks had hit double figures before the first half ended, as Blake Schmitz, Abe Soumis and Nathan Hill all had 10. Hermantown led 39-22 at the half.
Soumis in particular just kept going, scoring seven field goals in the second half en route to a game-high 27 points. Schmitz finished with 18 and Hill 16.
For Cloquet, which ended its season 14-14, Kollin Bonneville scored 16 points and Jack Battaglia 14.
Duluth Denfeld 63, North Branch 59
The Hunters went on the road and came back with a spot in the 7AAA section final behind 20 points from Marnaries Ferguson and 17 from Aidan Altona.
Third-seeded Denfeld trailed by four, 30-26, at the half before storming ahead down the stretch. Tyler Minke's 18 points led the second-seeded Vikings.
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The 7AAA final is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday night at East High School in Duluth.
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