Howie on Prep Sports
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Hermantown's boys hockey team is winding down a rugged regular season schedule that features only remaining home games against Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Friday and Grand Rapids next Tuesday. Then, the Section 7A playoffs begin.
“BSM which will be another high-end AA test for us,” Hawks coach Patrick Andrews said of the 15-5-0 Red Knights, who have won six of their last seven. “The goal of this schedule is to make us battle-tested and ready for playoffs.”
The Thunderhawks are 14-7-1.
Last week, 1A top-ranked Hermantown fell at home to 1A, No. 2 Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 3-1 and 2A, No. 1 Moorhead 2-1.
“Cloquet was a game of missed opportunities from the lack of forecheck to going oh-fer on the power play," said Andrews. "Overall, it was a well-paced game, but we didn't do enough to generate opportunities; credit Cloquet for making it hard for us to get to the scoring areas, but we need to be better at getting into the dirty areas and making hard plays, something we look to remedy going into playoffs. It was exciting to see sophomore Ethan Aysta score his first varsity goal, and (junior goaltender) Bryce Francisco was excellent once again. He gives up a chance to win night in and night out, but we need to help him out and score more than one goal a game.
“On Friday night, our effort was outstanding against a tremendous Moorhead team. You can see why they are ranked number one in the state and have won 22 games in a row. Their team skill and speed were phenomenal. However, I was very pleased with our ability to handle it and push back with quality opportunities ourselves. Charlie Marchand came through on the power play, which was good to see as the power play has been quiet lately. Scoring only one goal a game will not lead to great outcomes. Bryce was absolutely stellar, showing once again why he is the best goalie in the state.”
Hawks Girls Basketball
Hermantown girls basketball coach Eric Borndal said he was proud of his team’s performances in a pair of games decided in the final seconds of regulation play last week.
The Hawks (12-6) lost to Superior 63-60 on Tuesday and rebounded with a spirited 66-65 road win at Mesabi East Thursday.
“These were very important games as we head into the late part of our season, as we learn from our mistakes and hope to make a strong push come playoff time,” said Borndal. “In both first halves we played some of our best basketball. We need to be able to put together two halves and it will be really interesting to see how good we can be.”
Borndal said it’s been fun to watch senior captains Annika Nelson, Izzy Wotjtsiak and Hope Kohanski contribute key baskets to help support the consistent scoring of Bailey Hermanson, Olivia Johnson and Aurora Decker.
“It is clear that we play at our best when we share the ball and have multiple threats on offense,” said Borndal. “The mental toughness of our seniors was shown the past month as we have played 10 games on the road in a row.”
Hermantown will host Grand Rapids (2-18) on Thursday and high-powered Duluth Marshall (13-6) Friday. Tip-off is at 7:15 both nights.
The Hawks are 4-1 at home.
“It will be a fun challenge, as we look forward to starting February while playing at home,” Borndal said of the back-to-back Lake Superior Conference games.
The Hilltoppers are led by freshman guard-forward Chloe Johnson, one of the top-ranked college prospects in the Class of 2028.
