Girls tourney is competitive

The Wood City Classic girls basketball tournament is in the books, and both local teams went 1-1 in the tournament. Cloquet opened with a win over Mesabi East and then lost to Pine City, while Cromwell-Wright started with an easy win over Pine City, but then fell to Mesabi East in their second game.

A year ago, Cloquet entered the tournament with an 8-0 record and looked to be the favorite in Section 7AAA, but Mesabi East put a stop to the win streak. That loss kickstarted a downward spiral for the 'Jacks.

"I still think of last year and knew coming in that this was the team that started our losing streak last season," said Cloquet coach Heather Young. "We have a much younger team this year and we are still finding our niche."

On Friday, the Lumberjacks rode the hot hand of Lauren Hughes, who played with passion and jolted her team to a convincing win over the Giants.

"Lauren was everywhere and our girls seemed to feed off that energy. They all did exactly what we asked them to in the win," Young said. "We have a new crew and they played hard for us."

Hughes finished with a game-high 20 points. Nattie Butler also had an impressive game with 12 points, while Rylie Goranson and BrookeLynn Sell each recorded 8 points. Sarah Turner scored 6, Paige Goranson 3 points, and Olivia Battaglia had 2 points.

Cardinals fly

Cromwell-Wright started the tournament by ripping Pine City 63-29.

"Our defensive pressure was too much for them and we got a lot of points off transition," said Cromwell-Wright coach Jeff Gronner. "Overall, we played a pretty good game and we gave them a lot of trouble."

Isabella Anderson had a big day with 18 points, while Siina Anderson and Shannon Lund were also in double digits with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Emelia Dahl finished with 6 points, Remington Olesiak and Isabella Nyberg each scored 4, while Bryanna Foster and Clarie Irving both had 2 points.

Tough turnaround

Saturday, things changed for both local teams as they both dropped their second-day games. The Lumberjacks fell 50-49 to Pine City.

"It was a slug fest," Young said. "There just wasn't a lot of flow, and our shots wouldn't fall. We were up by 4 at one point late in the game, but we just couldn't find a way to score to get the win."

Leading Cloquet in scoring was Butler with 18 points, while Hughes added 13. Paige Goranson scored 7, Rylie Goranson added 4 points. Sell and Kourtney Kavanaugh added 3 points each and CeCe Moench had 2 points.

Meanwhile, the Cards squared off against Mesabi East but ended on the short side of a 57-47 score.

"I give them credit because they played with more energy and effort than their previous game," Gronner said. "We were sluggish, but they made it hard for us and we didn't match their intensity."

Cromwell-Wright struggled to stop Marta Forsline and Alyssa Prophet, who each poured in 18 points for the Giants.

"They both hit big shots and they were able to handle our defensive pressure, which was the difference," Gronner said.

In double-digit scoring for the Cards were Isabella Anderson with 12, Lund with 11 and Olesiak with 10. Siiena Anderson scored 7, Foster had 5 and Dahl had 2 points.

"Coming to this tournament in Cloquet is great for our community," Gronner said. "Our fans can come and watch our boys and girls teams both play in a tournament, there is good competition, and we really enjoy that it is close to home."