Prep report: No. 1 Rangers blitz Lumberjacks; Plasch scores 1,000th point for Tigers

CLOQUET — Class A top-ranked Mountain Iron-Buhl executed its full-court pressure defense to near-perfection on Thursday in an 82-48 road win over Cloquet. The Rangers were led by Jordan Zubich, who poured in a game-high 24 points— 18 coming in the first half.

MIB held a 58-18 lead over the Lumberjacks at halftime after knocking down 11 3-point shots and scoring easy baskets in transition off of steals.

"Our transition has been really good lately. I think that’s important, because we have a whole bunch of kids that can pass and run," MIB coach Jeff Buffetta said. "The better we do that I think the (more) it’ll help our half court offense when we get stopped."

Cloquet coach Heather Young was disappointed in her team's inability to respond to MIB's onslaught.

"We knew it was going to be a good test for us as they’re a fantastic team, but I am shocked to say the least as to how we responded being the veteran team that we are," Young said.

The Tigers' Tieryn Plasch scored her 1,000th career point as Northwestern notched a come-from-behind victory in Ashland.

Northwestern (11-4) trailed by as many as six points but the junior's 28-point effort helped resist a 29-point game from former Tiger Brynn Erickson, now playing for the Oredockers.

Gabby Risley added 15 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Twin 12-point games from Macey DeRosier and Sydney Zwak allowed the 7-9 Greyhounds to hold off the Hilltoppers at Marshall School.

Regan Juenemann scored 26 of the 6-8 Hilltoppers' 42 points and drained five treys.

The Hunters struggled to handle East's Isaac Nyakundi in the frontcourt, as the 6-foot-8 junior racked up a game-high 23 points.

East, which evened its record at 7-7 with the victory, led with its defense in the first half, holding the Hunters (2-12) to 18 first-half points in taking a nine-point halftime lead. The Greyhounds then took the offense up a gear after the break to pull away for the win.

Cam Oliphant scored 17 points to lead Denfeld.

The Rangers sprung a surprise in Cook on Wednesday, getting 35 points from Asher Zubich to hand the Grizzlies only their second loss of the season.

Zubich did most of his work the old-fashioned way, making five of his six first-quarter field goals from inside the 3-point arc, then adding another 15 points in the third quarter on five deuces, two free throws and a single triple.

Cooper Salinas added 14 for MI-B (8-5).

T.J. Chiabotti scored 31 points for North Woods (10-2).

Annika Lindgren's hat trick paced the Hilltoppers (12-3) to victory at Hibbing Memorial Arena.

Rae Anderson made 21 saves.

Jorja Jusczak was the overtime heroine for the Rebels, who overcame a 51-16 shot disadvantage to break a deadlock at Essentia Duluth Heritage Center after the teams scored 38 seconds apart in the first period.

Moose Lake (14-4-1) got 50 saves from Mallory Hartl.

The Lumberjacks and goaltender Araya Kiminski earned their third consecutive shutout on Thursday.

Kiminski, who made nine saves, has not been scored upon in 161 minutes, 17 seconds of play.

Dana Jones scored twice for CEC (13-6-1).

PREP SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Duluth East 62, Duluth Denfeld 41
Duluth Marshall 68, Proctor 48
Greenway 63, Hill City 43

GIRLS BASKETBALL
McGregor 84, Wrenshall 50
Two Harbors 52, Barnum 44
Northwestern 65, Ashland 61
Mountain Iron-Buhl 82, Cloquet 48
Duluth East 49, Duluth Marshall 42
Esko 69, Moose Lake-Willow River 22
Superior 58, Hibbing 23
Floodwood 42, Carlton 11

BOYS HOCKEY
Greenway 11, International Falls 3
Hibbing/Chisholm 7, North Shore 0
Proctor 7, Northern Edge 2
Hermantown 8, Superior 0
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 4, Duluth Marshall 2

GIRLS HOCKEY
Duluth Marshall 3, Hibbing/Chisholm 1
Rock Ridge 4, Princeton 2
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 3, Northern Lakes 0
Moose Lake Area 2, Duluth 1 (OT)