Carlton jumps on Wrenshall, cruises

The Carlton Bulldogs raced out to an early lead and put things on cruise control Friday night in taking a 72-55 win on the road over next-door neighbor Wrenshall.

Wrenshall struggled in finding defensive answers for the Carlton duo of Ben Soderstrom and Matt Santkuyl, who finished with 19 and 17 points respectively.

"Soderstrom and Santkuyl are both very talented players, and Soderstrom dominated the inside with scoring and rebounds," said Carlton coach Shawn Filipiak. "Santkuyl played very good defense and took advantage of fast break points."

Wrenshall coach Jon Bartczak said his team had matchup problems inside with Carlton's big man in the middle. "Soderstrom is very big and creates all sorts of problems inside," explained Bartczak. "They look at feeding him every time."

Carlton led the game 40-19 at halftime and at one point built a 31-point lead and scored 21 straight points before the Wrens answered.

"Overall, we played good team defense and worked the ball around to try and take what the defense would give us," Filipiak said. "We also had a chance to get the entire team to play, so it was good for the bench to get some key minutes to help with our future development."

That good team defense by the Bulldogs, and the full court pressure, was a tough obstacle to overcome throughout the first half for Wrenshall.

"It was a very slow start for us. It was our first game, and as a team we are still working on getting everyone on the same page," Bartczak said. "For the most part, this is a brand-new group of guys that haven't played together before, so there is still a bit of a learning curve. Carlton came out strong and pressured us all game. They are a very talented team that presents a lot of matchup problems. I think we played much better in the second half. If we can put two halves together like that, we'll be able to challenge them the next time we meet."

Joining Soderstrom and Santkuyl in the scoring column were Bulldogs Ryan Gray and Justin Swanson, each with eight points, Kristian Herman with six points, and four points for Sawyer Thorman. Adam Hey and Spencer Rousseau each recorded three points, Collin Emerson added two points, and Trevor Ojibway and Danny Eggert rounded out the scoring with a single point each.

Leading the scoring for the Wrens was Austin Larva, who recorded 11 points and was the only player in double-digit scoring. Cole Oja added eight points, Hunter Holmes scored seven and Kaden Oleson added six. Randy Wimmer, Isaiah Johnson and Mason Perry finished with five points while Zeke Rousseau had three points. Joel Lembke added two and Alex Browne finished with one point to round out the scoring for Wrenshall.