No. 6-seed Hermantown will attempt to pull off a major upset against third-seeded Cloquet in a Class AAA, Section 7 boys basketball quarterfinal Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cloquet Middle School Gym.
The Hawks (4-22) lost twice to the Jacks (18-8) during the regular season, 83-62 in the Wood City and 68-57 in Hermantown.
Hermantown lost 12 of its last 13 regular season games, including a crunching 93-53 loss at Duluth East in the finale, and finished 1-8 and in last place in the Lake Superior Conference.
During the regular season, the Hawks were 1-9 against opponents reaching the 7AAA quarterfinal round (0-1 vs. Chisago Lakes, 0-2 vs. Cloquet, 0-2 vs. Duluth Denfeld, 0-1 vs. Rock Ridge, 0-2 vs. Grand Rapids, 1-0 vs. North Branch, 0-1 vs. Hibbing).
This season was a competitive rebuild.
The regular season was a competitive rebuild for Hermantown. Senior guard Alex Schott and team scoring and rebounding leader super-sophomore Sawyer Senst, a developing college division prospect, lead the Hawks.
Cloquet’s top player is senior shooting guard Jack Battaglia, who averages 24.9 points per game. He had 38- and 23-point games against the Hawks, and likely will again be a handful for the Hawks to stop defensively.
“It’s that magical time of year when teams have a chance to turn their dreams into realities,” said Hawks coach Andy Fenske. “Everything our guys have worked for can be showcased in, what we hope, are a few more games. Our guys are in a great headspace, and despite our record, the guys know what the road looks like from our vantage point. All the pressure is on everyone else in the section. We just need to out-execute and value the ball, and a little luck on our side wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. March Madness was built on Cinderella runs and hopefully ours will start Wednesday night.”
"There will be a lot of scoreboard watching – even in round 1,” said Cloquet coach Steve Battaglia. “Anybody who thinks they know how this will play out is lying. We're confident after beating everybody in our section during the regular season, but we're also humble in knowing that any of them can also beat us. We're finally fully healthy and with a team full of seniors, we're ready to lay it all on the line and see what happens. Hopefully, we get a little luck and find a way to win this thing. Fun time of the year."
Other 7AAA quarterfinal matchups Wednesday night:
No. 1 Duluth Denfeld (17-9) hosts No. 8 Chisago Lakes (3-23)
No. 4 Grand Rapids (13-13) hosts No. 5 Rock Ridge (8-18)
No. 2 Hibbing (17-9) hosts No. 7 North Branch Area (3-23)
Tournament Notes: 7AAA semifinal games are scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., hosted by the highest-seeded remaining teams, followed by the championship on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at Duluth East.