Hermantown boys basketball coach Andy Fenske on his team, which has won six straight and 10 of its last 11 heading into tonight's headliner at Duluth Denfeld – "Only having the Bemidji game (an 88-81 road win) last week gave us a chance to rest up and reset as we head into the back half of the season. Abe (Soumis, senior power forward) had a dominant performance but that came from a great team player from the other four guys on the court with him at all times. He wouldn't be able to do what he's been doing if we didn't have a group around him who was just as big of a threat to score as he is.
Heading into the week here, we have Denfeld tomorrow (Tuesday) and Marshall on Thursday. Denfeld is always a big game for us, especially on the road, where we need to bring the focus and the energy. Having dropped the first match-up of the season, this is a big one for section seeding purposes here which is going to be here before we know it! I think we're playing better basketball and we have a healthier squad than we had in early December, that's a huge benefit when you head down to Denfeld to play.
Thursday night is our Educator Appreciation Night, something we've done every year, short of the 2021 COVID season, to recognize the impact that our educators make on these student-athletes. That brings some more people to our games to see what it is we do, and in a game where we have a local match-up, that hopefully keeps people coming back for more! If we've learned anything over the course of the last 10 weeks, we cannot overlook a single opponent, or take anything for granted. We need to keep course by focusing on what we do best and how we can keep our sights set on March."
Hermantown boys hockey coach Patrick Andrews on his Class 1A/No. 2-ranked club – "We had a great week, with plenty of success and plenty of learning opportunities, playing a talented young Hibbing team (an 8-1 Hawks win) and a tough blue-collar White Bear Lake squad (a 3-2 loss). Coming off an emotional loss to Warroad (4-1) last Saturday, I liked the team's response. We had a great practice on Monday and our game on Tuesday against Hibbing might be our most complete effort to date. We dominated Hibbing as River Freeman scored a hat trick and Henry Peterson tallied two goals. The power play was working, we got pucks to the net, and we played hard in the house offensively and defensively. As a coach, Tuesday's game was the response you want your team to have coming off a big loss.
Saturday was the tale of two halves. We gave away the first half of the game, falling behind 3-1. Bode Madill tallied a goal in the first after a relentless forecheck by his linemates Charlie Marchand and Henry Martinsen. These three make up the 'orange line' which has come on the past five games giving us some scoring depth which is very exciting to see. With this young and inexperienced group we are still learning just how hard it is to play consistent, winning hockey. We came out with energy but we weren't willing to get to the dirty areas of the rink to make the hard plays needed to compete against a big AA team like WBL. However, after they scored their third goal it snapped us back to life and we dominated the second half of the game. Our forecheck started to grind, F2 was hard in support and we turned them over consistently, River Freeman was finally able to break through as his line with Josh Kauppinen and Ford Skytta sparked a hard push for us making the game 3-2. We outshot WBL 12-1 in the 3rd period but it was not enough as their goalie stood on his head down the stretch. It is a great lesson for our guys, we can not play half a game and expect to win against quality opponents.
This week is a busy one with three games. A big LSC match-up with a much improved and competitive Superior squad. We will then be tested to the max with two AA juggernauts coming into the Hawkdome this weekend, STA on Friday night and Maple Grove on Saturday. Both these two teams create match-up problems all over the ice as they are deep, skilled, and physical. This week will be a great test for our team and is the last three games of a six-game home stretch."
TODAY'S EVENTS
High School Boys Basketball
Proctor at Cloquet
Esko at Aitkin
Hermantown at Duluth Denfeld
Cherry at Nashwauk-Keewatin
Brainerd at Duluth East
Hibbing at Rock Ridge
Pine City at Duluth Marshall
Moose Lake-Willow River at Grand Rapids
Chisholm at Littlefork-Big Falls
Cook County at Mesabi East
Carlton-Wrenshall at Ely
Mountain Iron-Buhl at Greenway
High School Girls Basketball
Hibbing at Hermantown
Cloquet at Superior
Duluth Marshall at Proctor
International Falls at Cherry
South Ridge at Deer River
High School Boys Hockey
Superior at Hermantown
Rock Ridge at Cloquet-Esko-Carlton
Ely at Proctor
Duluth Marshall at Mora-Milaca
Lake of the Wood at Greenway
Pine City at Moose Lake
