Lumberjacks stop Greyhounds in their tracks

Things looked bleak at halftime on Monday night for the Cloquet girls basketball team. Playing on Parents Night, the 'Jacks found themselves trailing 31-17 at the break against the Duluth East Greyhounds.

Whatever happened in the locker room at halftime should be bottled by the Cloquet girls basketball coaching staff because the Lumberjacks came out flying in the second half and pressured the Greyhounds into numerous turnovers as Cloquet rescued a sure defeat and turned it into a 46-42 victory.

"For this team, getting going in the first half has been an issue more often than not," said 'Jacks coach Heather Young. "We have talked about this all season. We can't start out slow out of the gate. You have to work twice as hard to make it back into the game because the other team isn't going to quit playing."

The first half resembled Murphy's Law for Cloquet where basically whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. Halftime couldn't come fast enough as the Lumberjacks needed a chance to calm down and hopefully regroup for the second half. Cloquet coaches made adjustments, calmed the team down and got them to come out as a re-energized and cohesive unit that had the Greyhounds reeling from the moment of their first possession.

"At halftime we talked about their picks, helping out our teammates on screens and just being more patient on the offense," Young explained. "I felt at times, when East was zipping up and down the floor, that we felt like we needed to run also. Sure, we can transition the ball effectively, but we need to do it at our pace. We need to control what we can control and not lose focus and play their game."

To say that Cloquet responded is to put it mildly. The 'Jacks began a full-court pressure defense that constantly had the Greyhounds flustered and throwing the ball away. Senior Allie Wojtysiak was a major force in the comeback by supplying the Cloquet offense with 23 points, but she also added 12 rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals in urging her team to the win.

"We count on Allie a lot to get us going," Young said. "She is hard to match up against when she is on. She can post up and finish, drive the ball, or she can shoot the jumper. She struggled - as did the whole team in the first half - but the energy the team came out with in the second half I think energized her."

The Lumberjacks had stellar performances from every single player who hit the floor on Monday night, but a couple of notable performances helped key the win.

One of those performances was by Vanna Kelley, who handled point guard duties and chipped in with 10 points. The other was the tough defense inside of Olivia Diver, who was called on to guard 6'3" Greyhound center Ava White. Diver gave up 8 inches in height to White, but held her to just six points with four of those coming in the first half.

"Olivia played solid for us. She is a tough cookie. Offensively she didn't have many points, but her role wasn't to score," Young said. "She can take players who are much taller than her and make life miserable for them. She is strong and has determination and by using those skills she held their player to just six points, and that says a lot about who she is as a player."

While Diver and her teammates were trying to bottle up the inside of the lane, the Lumberjacks were getting strong second-half guard play from a number of players. Vanna Kelley continually harassed the Greyhound ball carriers and attacked their defense as she drove to the basket in a slashing style that confounded the opposition.

"Our guards are an important part of our offense," Young said. "They know they need to get us off to a good start. Vanna loves to challenge herself, reflect, and ask for guidance. I appreciate that about her. When Vanna is on ... our offense thrives."

Young also singled out younger players, including Mireye Moose and Alexa Snesrud, as having solid games at the guard position.

The Lumberjacks trailed until a little over three minutes remained in the game, but the tenacious, in-your-face defensive pressure had so startled the Greyhounds that they appeared confused and dazed.

Joining Wojtysiak and Kelley in the scoring column were Abbey Collins with four points, Maddie Young and Diver with three points, Snesrud with two points and Moose with one point.

Prior to the game the Lumberjacks held their Senior Night ceremony, where all players and their parents were honored on the court.

"I really want to thank all the volunteers who helped put on our Senior Night; they always do such a great job," Young said. "I am so proud that all seven seniors are planning to attend college after high school and will go after a career path, with some even playing sports at the next level. That is the best part about coaching, you just hope our program helped them out a little along the way."