On a rough night, 'Jacks win the Paddle

Heading into Tuesday's girls basketball Battle for the Paddle, neither Cloquet nor Esko had put a mark in the win column this season. The Lumberjacks entered the game 0-2, with losses to Proctor and Hermantown, and Esko came in 0-1 with a loss to Rock Ridge. On Tuesday night the 'Jacks were able to overcome a challenging game to come away with a 71-43 victory. They also won the paddle, which goes to the victors.

"We got the paddle back," said Cloquet coach Heather Young. "We will take the win, but there are a lot of things we need to clean up."

The game was chock full of turnovers, but Esko struggled in the first half and couldn't get the ball to drop as they trailed 33-12 at the break.

Esko managed only three field goals in the first half while the Lumberjacks, who trailed 2-0 after the first basket, went on a 33-10 run to end the first half.

"We did some good things in the first half and got some good looks, but the ball just didn't drop," said Esko coach Sue Northey. "We have two seniors, two juniors and seven sophomores and only one player who saw many minutes on varsity, so our learning curve will be steep. It is only the second game of the season and growth will take time. It takes time to learn how to be a varsity player, but I'm optimistic for the growth of this team."

Cloquet was led by Nattie Butler, who scored a game high 27 points, including 11 in the first half.

"I was really happy for Nattie because she created a lot of things with her defense and her rebounding," said Young. "This is the first game where we saw what she is capable of. Now we need to build on that with the entire team."

Trailing by 19 to start the second half, Esko knocked down the first two buckets to start, but again Cloquet went on an offensive surge as they pulled away to the win.

"I told the girls at halftime that when shots don't fall that doesn't mean you did anything wrong - the ball just didn't go in," Northey said. "I was really happy with the way we came out in the second half and worked our offense and got the ball to stop dropping."

Not only did the game feature a ton of turnovers, but both teams had foul trouble throughout the game. Both lost a player due to foul trouble and both teams had multiple players who were on the verge of possibly fouling out of the affair.

Joining Butler in double figure scoring for Cloquet was Rylie Goranson, who had 11 points. Cloquet also got nine points each from Lauren Hughes and Paige Goranson, plus six points from BrookeLynn Sell. Sarah Turner added four points, Tenique Moose chipped in with three points and Bella Bridge added two.

"Both teams struggled to take care of the ball, but it is early in the season and we need to learn to be more consistent in our play," said Young, who lost seven players to graduation from last year's team. "We need to stop trying to force things and to sometimes slow things down. There is a lot of work to be done, but it is a long season and the girls are willing to put in the time to learn."

Esko was led by Celia Preiner with 16 points, including three 3-pointers in the second half.

"Celia had a good second half after struggling in the first half," Northey said. "I also saw some good things from Maya (Johnson), who had 15 rebounds for us."

Clara Swanson added seven for Esko, Maya Johnson scored six, and both Kaitlyn McConnell and Ava Marline added five points. Kam Korkala finished with four points to round out Esko's scoring.

The win means Cloquet will hold the Paddle, which is a traveling trophy, at least until the next time the two teams meet on Jan. 2 in Esko. Last season the teams split, with each team winning on the road.

The win improves Cloquet's record to 1-2 while Esko falls to 0-2 on the season.