Nicole Blatchford and Allie Wojtysiak helped the Cloquet girls basketball team avoid a second-half letdown in the opening round of the Section 7AAA playoffs Tuesday night in Cloquet.
With the Lumberjacks and Princeton tied 61-61, Wojtysiak took a pass from Blatchford and banked in a shot from under the hoop with four-tenths of a second remaining in the game, sending fourth-seeded Cloquet (15-12) to a 63-61 victory and a trip to top-seeded Grand Rapids for Saturday's semifinals.
Wojtysiak scored 16 points to lead the Lumberjacks, who nearly let a 38-27 halftime lead go to waste.
Two Harbors 36, Virginia 33
In Section 7AA, the host Agates defeated the Blue Devils for the third time since Feb. 18 to reach Saturday's quarterfinals at Minnesota Duluth, where No. 2 International Falls awaits.
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Ayla Lemke's 19 points led just three scorers for third-seeded Two Harbors (20-7).
Esko 66, Hinckley-Finlayson 7
The host Eskomos, seeded first in their subsection, built a 39-0 halftime lead en route to an easy first-round win in Section 7AA.
Ava Gonsorowski totaled 16 points to pace Esko (21-6), which will face Aitkin in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Romano Gym.
BOYS HOCKEY
Northland trio up for defensive award
Three Northlanders were announced Tuesday as candidates for the Reed Larson Award, given annually to the top senior defenseman in the state.
Duluth Marshall's Joe Liberty, Duluth East's Reid Hill and Hermantown's Dylan Samberg are among 24 candidates. If Samberg, also a Mr. Hockey finalist, wins, it would give the Hawks back-to-back Reed Larson trophies - Wyatt Aamodt won a year ago.
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Samberg is one of two UMD commits on the list. Holy Family Catholic's Matt Anderson also made it.
The winner will be announced next week in conjunction with the state tournament.
