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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Esko's Payton Wefel (20) crashes through Cromwell's defenders Cameron Cahoon (32) and Marcus Porcernich (1) on a shot at the basket during Friday night's matchup in Esko.
Cromwell's Micah Pocernich (4) goes for a shot over Esko's defender Sam Rengo (11) during Friday night's game in Esko.
The Esko Eskomos and the Cromwell-Wright Cardinals battled Friday night to see who might end up with the Polar League title. The Eskomos came out on top 54-46.
The matchup featured two of the best teams in the league and the Cardinals were searching for their first victory over Esko in several years. The Eskomos started fast while Cromwell-Wright struggled in the early going. The Eskomos jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
"We thought we had a great chance of beating them this year," Cardinals head coach Bill Pocernich said. "But they started off shooting the ball really well and we struggled to get going and that was the difference in the game."
The Cardinals - who rely on the long range bombs - struggled from the outside, hitting only four three-pointers on the night. Esko's Payton Wefel had four threes himself.
Esko's Trevor Spindler finished with 20 points to lead all scorers. Add that to Wefel's three-pointers and Esko took a 39-23 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Cardinals came out strong in the second half, outscoring Esko 23-15 but could never cut the Esko lead to under six points. Esko also attempted twice as many free throws on the night, going 12-15 from the line, while
Cromwell-Wright finished just 4-7.
The loss dropped the Cardinals to 10-3 on the season. They face Floodwood on tonight.
Esko lost a close contest Monday night to Cloquet, 63-61. Esko is 10-7 on the season and will host the Barnum Bombers tonight.
