Hermantown’s young, rebuilding boys basketball team showed strong progress in two road losses last week, as the Hawks fell at nonconference Mounds View 77-33 and at Grand Rapids 70-58.
“Mounds View is a really strong 4A program,” Hawks coach Andy Fenske said Monday morning. “We challenge ourselves to those tough games so we know what it's like to play at a higher level and, despite the score, there were a lot of upsides to it.”
Hermantown battled the Thunderhawks to the final horn, in an attempt to avenge a 17-point loss at home on January 30.
“We found a drive that gave us chances down the stretch, however, we are hopefully finding out that we can't wait until late game to kick it into overdrive,” Fenske said of the Lake Superior Conference loss, the Hawks 16th in 19 starts.
The Hawks will next visit nonconference St. Francis (5-14) on Tuesday night before playing host to St. Paul Harding (10-8) to begin a three-game homestand on Friday at 6 p.m.
“St. Francis has a new coach so you never know what to truly expect when a program begins to take on a new identity,” said Fenske. “Harding is a team that plays a tough schedule night in and night out, so no easy games on their schedule in the slightest.”
In the meantime, Fenske said his team is starting to play longer stretches of high-quality basketball.
“We just need to continue to get those stretches for longer durations and more frequently in games,” he said.
2024-25 Hermantown Boys Basketball Schedule / Results
Proctor – L 78-66, Overall: 0-1. Lake Superior Conference: 0-1. Home: 0-0. Road: 0-1.
Princeton – L 95-87. Overall: 0-2. LSC: 0-1. Home: 0-1. Road: 0-1.
Hibbing – L 86-56. Overall: 0-3. LSC 0-2. Home: 0-2. Road: 0-1.
Columbia Heights – L 75-67. Overall 0-4. LSC 0-2. Home: 0-2. Road: 0-2.
Duluth Denfeld – L 94-58. Overall 0-5. LSC 0-3. Home: 0-2. Road: 0-3.
Chisago Lakes – W 97-84. Overall 1-5. LSC 0-2. Home: 1-2. Road: 0-3.
Delano (Delano Tournament) – L 102-75. Overall 1-6. LSC 0-2. Home: 1-2. Road: 0-4.
Monticello (Delano Tournament) – L 72-36. Overall 1-7. LSC 0-2. Home: 1-2. Road: 0-5.
Milaca – W 65-62. Overall 2-7. LSC 0-2. Home: 2-2. Road: 0-5.
Duluth East – L 93-41. Overall 2-8. LSC 0-2. Home: 2-2. Road: 0-6.
Cloquet, L 83-62. Overall 2-9. LSC 0-4. Home: 2-2. Road: 0-7.
Bemidji, L 88-39. Overall 2-10. LSC 0-4. Home: 2-3. Road: 0-7.
Duluth Marshall, W 82-69. Overall 3-10. LSC 1-4. Home: 2-3. Road: 1-7.
Duluth Denfeld, L 90-60. Overall 3-11. LSC 1-5. Home: 2-4. Road: 1-7.
Bemidji, L 96-58. Overall 3-12. LSC 0-4. Home: 2-4. Road: 1-8.
Grand Rapids, L 80-63. Overall 3-13. LSC 1-6. Home: 2-5. Road: 1-8.
Cloquet, L 68-57. Overall 3-14. LSC 1-7. Home: 2-6. Road: 1-8.
Mounds View, L 77-33. Overall 3-15. LSC 1-7. Home: 2-6. Road: 1-9.
Grand Rapids, L 70-58. Overall 3-16. LSC 1-8. Home: 2-6. Road: 1-10.
Tuesday – at St. Francis
Friday – St. Paul Harding
Feb. 20 – Superior
Feb. 21 – Rock Ridge
Feb. 25 – at Mound Westonka
Feb. 27 – at North Branch
Feb. 28 – Duluth East
Mar. 5, 7, 13 – Section Tournament
Home games listed in boldface.