'Jacks fall to Thunderhawks to end season

A slow start to Saturday's Section 7AAA semifinal game versus Grand Rapids sealed the fate of the Cloquet girls basketball team. The Thunderhawks raced out to a 19-point halftime lead and then fended off the feisty 'Jacks, who eventually fell 62-48 to end their season.

"They were scoring from the get-go," said Cloquet head coach Heather Young. "They just couldn't miss, while we struggled to even make the little things happen, like making a layup. We definitely had our chances; unfortunately it just wasn't our time. It's hard to come back from a 19-point deficit to a team like Grand Rapids."

The Thunderhawks used a stifling defense to hold Cloquet to just 20 points in the first half while scoring 39 points themselves as they built a commanding lead.

"I really feel we had great looks in the first half," Young said. "It wasn't really what Rapids did, but what we did to ourselves. That is a hard pill to swallow. We not only were playing against their five on the floor, but ourselves as well."

The Lumberjacks showed strong resilience in the second half and came out on a 10-2 run and started to take a big chunk out of the lead, giving hope of an improbable comeback.

"At halftime we talked about execution and taking the great shot and how the first five minutes were pivotal to getting back in the game," Young said. "To our girls' credit, they came out swinging and plugging away. But again, we cut the lead to seven, only to have Rapids go down and make two 3-pointers to push the lead back to 13 points. We just didn't consistently execute offensively."

Maddie Young and Kendra Kelley led the 'Jacks in scoring with 11 and 10 points respectively, while both Allie Wojtysiak and Alexa Snesrud added eight points. Kate Owens finished with six, Vanna Kelley scored three and Olivia Diver added two points.

"Our senior group is one of perseverance," Young said. "We have three girls - Wojtysiak, Kendra Kelley and Vanna Kelley - who have contributed over 3,000 points cumulative in their careers. Allie was a solid player for us usually scoring a double-double, while Vanna was a great floor leader and ball handler and Kendra was tough on defense and could make those shots here and there to keep us alive."

The Lumberjacks will also graduate Olivia Diver, Jessica Liang, Abbie Collins and Grace Dushkin - who all have been strong players in the program.

"All of them have helped our program continue to grow on the competitive side," explained Young. "Duskin had to deal with knee injuries and surgeries, Collins had to deal with the concussions that kept her out for three weeks. Liang, who started and came off the bench for us as a guard, always had a great attitude and accepted her role. Diver, who is just so strong, created a presence on the inside that was tough even on the tallest girls. All will be missed, but always welcome to come back."

Hannah DeMars led the Thunderhawks, and all scorers, with 21 points and Emily Wochnick finished with 14 points.

The Lumberjacks finished the season with a 16-12 record.