Prep report: Spartans' Zentkowski completes quest to 1,000 points
Feb. 15—Kloe Zentkowski of Superior finished the path to 1,000 points last night, easily surpassing the milestone as the Spartans knocked off Grand Rapids 71-52 in Grand Rapids on Thursday night.
Zentkowski, a senior forward, needed just four points to hit four digits. She finished with 21, as did Annabel Manion. Eva Peterson kicked in 17.
The Spartans (15-8) had to hold off a huge night from the Thunderhawks' Jessika Lofstrom, who scored 35 in defeat as her team dropped to 12-10.
The Tigers guaranteed themselves a winning record for 2023-24 by cruising past Cumberland at home on Thursday night, Feb. 15.
Senior Shayna Wick outscored Cumberland by herself, notching 26 points, while Jillian Kunert added 24.
Northwestern (13-11, 12-6 Heart O'North) will open postseason play in WIAA Division 3 with a Tuesday, Feb. 20 home game vs. Bloomer.
Esko got 16 points from Hannah Swanson to put away the Hawks on Thursday night, Feb. 15 in Esko. Esko is now 15-7 on the year.
Hermantown (6-18) got 14 from Olivia Johnson.
Chloe Carlson's 26 points were more than enough for the Rails to claim a dominant home win.
Proctor, which scored 54 first-half points, got 20 from Lily Smith.
Avaya Fontaine led Chisholm with 14.
The Agates kept the Raptors' offense under wraps on Thursday, Feb. 15, allowing just nine made field goals.
On the offensive end, Belle Bolle scored 21 points and Trinity Giddings 14.
Sam Haugen set the tone for a red-hot Esko offense on Thursday night, Feb. 15, scoring 31 points as Esko took down the Lumberjacks at home.
Haugen knocked down six 3-pointers for Esko, which built on a 45-36 halftime lead. The hosts also got 18 points from Braedyn Male and 17 from Dalton Spindler.
Caiden Schjenken had a big night for the Warriors in Deer River, knocking down four 3-pointers and scoring 30 points. Cale Jackson kicked in 21
For Greenway, three players scored in double figures, with Colin Robertshaw's 18 leading the way.
The Bluejackets pulled off one of the stunners of the season, as 23 points from freshman center Ray Brau helped them upset the Rebels on Thursday night, Feb. 15 in Hibbing.
Three other players (Drew Forer, Finley Cary, Adam Reckmeyer) scored in double figures for Hibbing, which entered the contest with a 2-19 record.
MLWR (17-7) got 18 points from Adam Neumann and 16 apiece from Nolan Nelson and Eli Youngs.
The Lightning couldn't stand in the way of the Huskies' fifth-straight trip to the state girls hockey tournament, as Andover rolled to another Section 7AA championship on Thursday night at Fogerty Arena in Blaine.
Seven Huskies had multi-point games, led by Mackenzie Jones, who had a goal and three assists; Nora Sauer, who had a goal and two assists, and Hannah Christenson, who scored twice.
Mercury Bischoff scored early in the third period for GRG's only goal and the junior's 39th goal and 61st point of the season.
Andover has at least reached the state championship game in all of its last four trips to Xcel Energy Center, winning it all in 2020 and 2022.
Clairebella Hills made 17 saves for Andover, while Riley Toivonen stopped 27 shots for the Lightning, who finish their season 17-10-1.
The Spartans couldn't generate enough offense to keep their season going, as they were outshot 32-18 in a Division 1 regional final defeat at Hobbs Ice Center in Eau Claire.
Lucas Williams scored for the Spartans' lone tally near the midway point of the game, but Superior gave up the next two and an empty-netter.
Gabe Pankratz scored twice for the fourth-seeded Old Abes, while Mack Diggins had a goal and two assists.
Superior got 28 saves from Trent Peterson and ends its season 9-13-3.
The Rails suffered a bumpy regular-season finale on Thursday night, as the Lightning got two goals from Easton Anderson to win at St. Luke's Sports and Event Center.
Proctor's only goal of the game came with 3:53 to play from Austin Bryant. A.J. Reyelts made 34 saves for the Rails (18-7), who had a six-game win streak snapped. Proctor will be the fourth seed in Section 7A and face North Shore in its tournament opener on Tuesday night in Proctor.
The Hunters opened up the offense in their regular-season finale, as John Scott marked his return from injury with a six-point night at Hodgins-Berardo Arena in Coleraine.
Scott, who suffered an upper-body injury in the
championship of the Heritage Holiday Classic on Dec. 29
and had not played since, had three goals and three assists. Cory Backstrom also had a hat trick for the Hunters, who had seven players post multi-point games, including a four-assist night for Valtteri Luhtalampi.
Connor Doyle made 13 saves for Denfeld (11-12-2), which will meet rival Duluth East in a Section 7AA quarterfinal on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center. Greenway (5-17-3), which got 35 saves from Derek Gibeau, plays at No. 3 Hibbing/Chisholm in the 7A tournament on the same night.
PREP SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Duluth East 70, Duluth Denfeld 64 (2OT)
Esko 89, Bemidji 70
Deer River 70, Greenway 52
Hibbing 71, Moose Lake/Willow River 66
North Woods 97, Fond du Lac Ojibwe 81
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Esko 66, Hermantown 44
South Ridge 55, Floodwood 35
Proctor 78, Chisholm 28
Mellen 40, Solon Springs 36
Two Harbors 51, Carlton/Wrenshall 25
Superior 71, Grand Rapids 52
BOYS HOCKEY
Northern Lakes 4, Proctor 1
Duluth Denfeld 9, Greenway 3
WIAA Division 1 Regional
Eau Claire Memorial 4, Superior 1
GIRLS HOCKEY
Section 7AA Championship
Andover 8, Grand Rapids/Greenway 1
