Underdog Eskomos end run in consolation championship

Esko entered the 2019 Minnesota Boys Basketball Tournament as huge underdogs March 20 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Playing in their second-straight state Class AA tournament - and fourth in the last five years - the unseeded Eskomos opened play against Minneapolis North in the quarterfinals.

The Eskomos ended up losing a hard-fought contest 61-53. The game was as intense as it was close, with each team leading by eight points at least once. The game featured 10 ties and nine lead changes but the Polars closed the game on an 8-0 run, holding Esko scoreless for the final three minutes of play.

The contrasting styles produced a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers for North as the Polars forced 23 Esko turnovers while committing just eight. The Eskomos buried seven 3-pointers, while defending the arc on the other end, limiting the Polars to just one 3 in the game.

Tied 30-30 at halftime, the second half saw both teams battling away until the final few minutes when Esko senior Camden Berger picked up his fifth foul after Riley Fischer had tied the game at 53-53 with two free throws.

"We were right there with them," said Esko head coach Derek Anderson. "When you lose your floor general and senior leader, we just couldn't get the shots to fall when we needed."

Payton Wefel led the Eskomos with 16 points while Berger had 12.

"The kids were determined to show they deserved to be there and they did just that, they are such a great group of kids," Anderson added.

Consolation bracket

Esko faced a very strong Redwood Valley squad next in the consolation semifinals. The two teams exchanged leads seven times in the first half.

After the Cardinals' Cole Woodward hit two free throws, things got even more tense. Redwood Valley led 32-31 with eight seconds remaining, but Camden Berger drove the length of the floor for the layup to give Esko the 33-32 lead as the first half ended.

After that Berger basket, Esko never trailed again, going on to a 66-56 victory.

"This was not an easy win," Anderson said. "They are a good team, very long, and Woodward can shoot the daylights out of the ball."

Trevor Spindler paced the Eskomos in the victory Thursday as he finished with 32 points. Berger had 12.

"There were some very questionable calls or no calls out there and the kids remained poised and calm, much calmer than I was," Anderson revealed.

Free throws were a huge factor in the win, as the Eskomos were 8/10 in the last few minutes as the Cardinals were forced to foul to keep them in the game. Woodward led Redwood Valley Thursday night with 22 points.

With the win over Redwood Valley, the Eskomos advanced to the consolation championship against Melrose Dutchmen at Concordia University in St. Paul. Esko won the consolation title in 2018.

Shorthanded without Payton Wefel - who suffered a concussion - the Dutchmen ultimately beat Esko 66-57, but not without a fight.

A back-and-forth battle in the first half saw the game tied 29-29 at halftime. The Tigers shot 50 percent in the second half and got to the free throw line 19 times to pull away with the win. A total of 27 points from senior guard Preston Keaveny paced the Dutchmen while three other Melrose players also finished in double figures.

Camden Berger led the Eskomos with 26 points and Trevor Spindler added 11 points.

"We wanted to get that win again in the championship game," said Camden Berger, referring to the 2018 fifth-place finish. "But I think we just kind of ran out of gas near the end."

"We weren't supposed to be here in the first place and we proved a lot of people wrong. It's a great way to end my high school career," Berger said.

The Eskomos closed their season with a record of 22-11.

"This is a special group of kids and one I'll always remember as my first year as a head coach," Anderson said. "How unselfish this team was will always be near and dear to me."