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A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Esko's Camden Berger shoots over Vincent Miska late in the second half in the section championship in Duluth.
Esko's Trevor Spindler gets fouled on a shot in second half action at UMD's Romano Gymnasium.
Esko's Cory Kauma makes a move to get past Pequot Lakes defender Jordan Schommer in the first half at UMD's Romano Gymnasium.
Esko coach Derek Anderson speaks to his team after a Pequot Lakes timeout late in the second half last Thursday in Duluth.
The Eskomos headed back to the boys state basketball tournament this week for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the last five years, after defeating Pequot Lakes in the Section 7AA championship Thursday at the University of Minnesota Duluth by a score of 58-45.
The team mirrored its state performance last year by dropping the first game of the tournment, a 61-53 loss Minneapolis North Wednesday night. The Eskomos were headed to the consolation rounds. The team won the consolation title last year.
It may feel like a routine event to see the Esko boys basketball team heading back to state, but this year was anything but routine.
A year ago the Eskomos were led by Adam Trapp, Ryan Pantsar and Quinn Fischer.
"Last year the team was dependent on the inside game of Trapp, Fischer's cutting and slashing, and Pantsar's steady play. We had to take a whole new approach heading into this season," said first-year head coach Derek Anderson. "Nobody gave us a chance this year. We were ranked low in preseason polls and with a tough start to the season, some thought they had us pegged, but I knew with the guys we have on this year's squad we were going to make some noise."
The noise came Thursday night as senior Camden Berger used his poise and experience to lead the Eskomos to the 13-point victory. Esko came out strong using good ball movement and timely shooting as Esko junior Payton Wefel hit three 3-pointers to help lead the Eskomos to a 24-19 lead at halftime.
"I thought they did a good job of getting us to play at their pace," Anderson said, "The second half we got the game more to our liking - a little more up-tempo - and Berger did a great job leading us down the stretch."
Pequot Lakes did a good job starting the second half by making a small run to cut the Eskomos' lead down to two points twice, but a 3-pointer from Wefel created a buffer the Patriots never recovered from. Esko capitalized on breaking the Pequot Lakes full-court press, which led to some easy layups. Outstanding free-throw shooting sealed the win. Esko was 21-24 from the free throw line on the night.
"I was so excited for the guys," Anderson said. "They played so hard throughout the season, we overcame several injuries, and with nobody thinking we could do it, we did, and now we're back in the Cities."
Esko was expected to play its second game at 6 p.m. Thursday Concordia College in St. Paul. The consolation final is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Concordia. The AA state championship game is Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Target Center.
Minneapolis North was the No. 2 seed in Class AA and survived a scare by Esko. The teams traded leads as the second half ticked off. After Esko's Camden Berger fouled out late in the half, North took the lead for good.
