Prep report: Esko boys lose game, backboard vs. Cannon Falls

Feb. 3—Esko boys basketball lost a boys basketball game and a backboard on Saturday, Feb. 3.

Esko fell behind by 20 points in the first half and had a comeback fall short in a 71-66 home defeat to Cannon Falls.

The backboard suffered a career-ending injury with 10:22 remaining in the second half on a dunk from Esko's Braedyn Male. The game was moved to another gym in the Esko school to be completed, where the visiting Bombers held on behind 21 points from Aiden Johnson.

Koi Perich led Esko with 23 points, while Male added 21.

The Hilltoppers rolled to victory on Saturday, making an amazing 20 3-pointers.

Chloe Johnson had six of them en route to a game-high 33 points, while Regan Juenemann added four treys and 18 points. Anna Saari and Morgan Lucero both made a pair of 3's and finished with 12 points.

Marshall (14-7) has won five games in a row.

A good stretch for the Tigers and freshman Jillian Kunert kept going with a win, their seventh in a row, on Saturday night in Maple.

Kunert led all scores with 15 points and flirted with another triple-double, recording 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Ava Anderson scored 12 and Shayna Wick 11 for the 10-5 Tigers.

Benson Peterson had a goal and two assists and Bennett Scissons had a goal and an assist as the Hilltoppers prevailed in a rare international matchup at Mars Lakeview Arena in Duluth.

The Canadians scored just 10 seconds into the game, but Scissons and Oden Brunette gave Marshall a 2-1 lead after a period and three more goals for the Hilltoppers in the second period made it 5-2 after 2, a margin befitting their 49-17 advantage in shots on goal.

Landon Wheeler made 14 saves for Marshall (14-7-1).

Grady Olson scored a game-winning goal with 27 seconds to play to stun the Hunters on Saturday at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center.

Valtteri Luhtalampi and Bruno Decambaliza scored four minutes apart to give the Hunters a brief 2-1 lead, but Brody Berg tied it up for the Cardinals 43 seconds later, deadlocking the game until Olson's extra-late winner.

Connor Doyle made 30 saves for Denfeld (10-11-1), which has lost seven of its last eight.

A run of three Rebels goals in 3:35 sunk the Lumberjacks on Saturday at Champlin Ice Forum.

Bobby Thornton had tied the game 1-1 at the 1:44 mark of the first period, but the hosts scored three straight, then added two more in the third period for insurance.

Karson Young had the other goal for CEC (10-13), which got 30 saves from Jamis Halverson.

The Hawks couldn't get any of their 33 shots past Spuds goalie Kai Weigel on Saturday at the Moorhead Sports Center.

The game's only goal came from Moorhead's Parker Gast at 2:57 of the second period.

Dane Callaway made 29 saves for the Hawks (13-7-2).

The Wolverines used a run of three goals in the second period to take the lead and go on to win on Saturday at Iron Trail Motors Event Center.

After a scoreless first period, Brant Tiedeman scored Rock Ridge's first goal :28 in and 10 seconds after Brainerd opened the scoring. Sam Troutwine (power play) and Kasey Lamppa followed to make it 3-1 just past the halfway point of the frame.

Rock Ridge successfully protected a one-goal lead through the third period with Grady Dimberio finishing it off with an empty-netter for his third point of the game.

Ryan Rothfork made 23 saves for the Wolverines (17-5-1).

Thomas Vekich had two goals and three assists for the Raiders as a wild game at Hodgins-Berardo Arena in Coleraine ended in a tie.

Dylan Villeneuve scored his second goal of the game, with 1:18 to play, to force overtime.

Derek Gibeau made 26 saves for Greenway (3-15-3).

Izy Fairchild sent the Mirage into the postseason on a high note, scoring the game-winning goal 5:14 into overtime and completing the senior's second hat trick this week.

Fairchild had four two-goal games this season before scoring three in the Mirage's 9-5 win at Superior on Monday night. In this one, Fairchild scored twice in the second period, once early and once with 17 seconds to go, to give her team a 2-1 lead after two periods at Hermantown Hockey Arena.

However, Greer Hardacre scored her second goal of the game for the visitors to tie it up with 7:47 to play.

Neelah McLeod made 12 saves for Proctor/Hermantown, which had a 44-14 shot advantage.

Brackets have not been released for the Section 7A tournament, which begins on Tuesday with three quarterfinals at 6 p.m. The Mirage finished the regular season 15-8-2 and based on the Quality Results Formula computer rankings for the section are most likely to host North Shore in a quarterfinal that night.

The Hilltoppers made their case for the top seed in Section 7A and a quarterfinal bye as Ilsa Lindaham completed a first-period hat trick then later added two more goals for her 10th game of three or more goals in her senior season.

Marshall held a 4-0 lead after a period at Mars Lakeview Arena and 5-0 just after the 11-minute mark of the second, but Thief River Falls pushed back with a pair of goals before the Hilltoppers closed the door late.

Nina Thorson and Avery Lian posted two assists each, while Ray Anderson made 20 saves. The Hilltoppers finish the regular season 21-3-1 and are the most likely top seed in the Section 7A tournament, giving them a bye into the Feb. 10 semifinals.