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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Fans surround the Carlton Bulldogs team for photos after the Bulldogs defeated the Wrenshall Wrens in a last-second shot to win the game.
Carlton's Mathew Santkuyl (24) goes up for a basket during Tuesday night's Brown Jug contest against the Wrenshall Wrens.
Wrenshall's Jared Kelley (0) muscles through Carlton defenderSpencer Rousseau (11) on a push to the basket during Tuesday nights matchup in Wrenshall.
Spencer Rousseau's midcourt three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Carlton Bulldogs a two-point win in a packed Wrenshall gymnasium Tuesday night and the Brown Jug after a one-year hiatus in the rivalry.
Carlton defeated Wrenshall 52-50, the same tallies when the two teams met in Carlton earlier this season. Carlton gets the Brown Jug based on the long-held tradition that the team without it has to win it back on the opposing team's floor.
The win for the Bulldogs snapped a five-game losing streak as they improved to 4-8 on the season, with two of the Bulldogs victories now coming against the Wrens.
"The kid hit a clutch shot that gave us the win, and I couldn't be happier for the kids," head coach Jeswa Harris said. "We battled back and forth all night long and the kids never quit."
The Bulldogs trailed by three points at halftime 31-28, but the Bulldogs battled and stayed close in the second half with the long ball. "Hey and Ojibway hit some big three-pointers to keep us close," Harris said.
Matt Santkuyl also kept the Bulldogs in the game with 16 points, adding 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Ojibway finished with 15 points and four blocked shots for Carlton.
It was a game which featured 17 lead changes with a tie score five time. Each team had several mini-runs throughout the contest.
"It was a game which either team could have won," Harris said. "We fell behind by 10 points but we never quit. You can never predict who will win this Jug game based on records. Both teams will fight for this every time they meet, and I'm just lucky to have seen my kids win it for the second time in my three years here."
Cole Oja led Wrenshall with 15 points while Randy Wimmer and Jared Kelly added 11 and 10 points.
"I wish we could have come away with the win," head coach Jon Bartczak said. "We played well enough to win, but in the end we had chances to pull away but didn't shoot the ball as well as we have this season. We shot just 29 percent from the floor and you won't win many games that way. It hurts to see the kids having the chance to win and then see it taken away on a last-second shot."
The Bulldogs will have a few days to enjoy the victory, then will be in action tonight when they host Barnum.
Wrenshall falls to 2-8 on the season and will travel to Two Harbors tonight to face the Agates as part of a girls and boys doubleheader.
Randy Wimmer of the Wrens cracked the 1000-point plateau on Monday night against Cherry. Wimmer entered the game five points shy of 1000, and would finish with 16 points in the win.
