Prep report: East boys match up with, beat Osseo

Forced to match up with someone their own size for perhaps the first time all season, Duluth East passed the test on Thursday, taking down Osseo 68-61 at home.

Rocco Paulson and Patrick Smith, both listed at 6-foot-8, matched up with 6-8 Osseo center Aaron Smith and 6-6 small forward Trey Smith.

Paulson and Trey Smith both finished with 18 points to lead their respective teams.

East held a 33-23 lead at the half, which was enough cushion to see out their sixth win in seven games.

Michael Kastelic made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points for East, while Jobe Juenemann added 10.

Kollin Bonneville’s 21 points paced the Lumberjacks to back-to-back victories for the first time this season.

Marco Mayorga scored 13 points for Cloquet, which led 27-17 at the half.

Noah Sundquist posted 28 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers, who had four scorers in double figures. Carson Brown added 19 points.

The Lumberjacks survived a thrilling finish on the road to get their 10th win of the season.

Alexa Snesrud made up for missing free throws in the final minute by knocking down the go-ahead bucket late.

Esko’s Cairin Berger had a look for a buzzerbeater but it didn’t go.

Snesrud scored 20 points to lead all scorers, while Kiley Issendorf added 13.

Esko had a balanced scoring effort led by Hannah Swanson’s 13 points. Kyra Johnson and Avery Kuklinski finished with 12 apiece.

The Spartans offense hit the afterburners in the second half, breaking out of a close 28-27 game at the break with 54 second-half points.Savannah Leopold led the charge, finishing with 31 points, including six of the Spartans’ eight 3-pointers. Eva Peterson scored 15 and Emma Raye and Kloe Zentkowski added 12 points apiece.

For the Wolverines, who made 12 triples, Emma Lamppa had a team-high 19 points (with four 3’s), while Anna Westby and Maija Lamppa scored 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Karly Holm poured in 36 points for the Agates, who led 47-8 at the half.

The Tigers held the Warriors to just 10 points in the second half to cement their victory, while Jillian Sajdak (18 points) and Anna Serna (17 points) carried the load on the offensive end.

Tieryn Plasch scored 22 points and Abby Johnson 15 as the Tigers raised their record to 6-4, 5-1 in the Heart O’ North Conference.

Connor Doyle stopped 30 shots as the Hunters claimed a shutout against neighboring Proctor despite having three defensemen out of the lineup at St. Luke’s Sports and Event Center.

"We defended really hard and we got really, really good goaltending," Denfeld coach Dale Jago said. "For the most part we played on the right side of the puck and rose up though we are missing a lot of guys. It was just some good efforts played on the right side of the and we pursued the puck when we had a chance."

Nolan Harju put the Hunters in the lead 5:31 into the game, but the contest remained goalless from then on until John Scott scored into an empty net with 21 seconds to play.

AJ Reyelts made 33 saves to take a hard-luck loss for the Rails.

The Bluejackets used a three-goal second period to pull away from the Raiders on Thursday night at Hibbing Memorial Arena.

Christian Dixon, Christian Edmonds and Beau Frider helped turn a 1-0 lead into a 4-1 advantage over the middle 17 minutes, while teammate Broden Fawcett scored in the first and third periods.

Braden Boyer stopped 14 shots for Hibbing/Chisholm, while Derek Gebeau made 36 saves for the Raiders.

The Superior defense kept the area in front of goaltender Kaylie Nault locked down on Thursday, allowing nine shots on goal, all of which Nault stopped.

The Spartans knocked on the offensive door several times, generating 43 shots on goal but only broke through twice, one from Emma Ferg in the first period and the other from Addy Benson 1:37 into the third period. Addison Hess stopped the other 41 for the Bluejackets.

The Spartans did it with depth on Thursday, outscoring Menomonie despite the visiting side claiming a majority (seven of 12) first-place finishes.

Joe Duzell of Superior won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:06.26 and participated in a pair of winning freestyle relays. Paolo Pagnucci won the 50 freestyle in 24.69 and was part of a relay win, while Arthur Pfeil was the other individual winner, taking the 100 free in 1:03.61.

PREP SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Duluth East 68, Osseo 61
Grand Rapids 64, Duluth Denfeld 59
Cloquet 67, Aitkin 48
Cherry 93, Wrenshall 57
Solon Springs 78, Butternut 22
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Superior 82, Rock Ridge 55
South Ridge 87, McGregor 18
Cherry 57, Deer River 31
Hibbing 53, International Falls 39
Northwestern 66, Cameron 23
Two Harbors 67, Silver Bay 29
Barnum 60, Carlton 21
Solon Springs 57, Butternut 37
Proctor 61, Hermantown 39
BOYS HOCKEY
Duluth Denfeld 2, Proctor 0
Hibbing/Chisholm 5, Greenway 1
GIRLS HOCKEY
Superior 2, Hibbing/Chisholm 0
BOYS SWIMMING
Superior 109, Menomonie 73