Dragon basketball takes 4 more
Pine City 72, Cloquet 37
What a difference 24 hours can make. Pine City came out Dec. 28 with great energy, passion, and focus to defeat Cloquet, 72 – 37, less than 24 hours after being defeated by Proctor. The Dragons were taking charges all night on the defensive end, fighting for rebounds on both ends, and sharing the ball on the offensive end. It was like poetry in motion, at times, as Pine City continued to work throughout the game, stick to the game plan, and keep their heads through adversity.
“A lot of teams would have sulked after the loss the night before, but our leaders pulled our group up and addressed it. We stayed overnight, as this was a tournament in Cloquet, and we were able to talk in small groups and as a big group. I am proud of the way our leaders responded to the game the night before,” said coach Allen. “ I am proud of how our group focused on the little things and the important things to have more success the next night. It was a good win for our program, the first time we have beat Cloquet since I have been the head coach in Pine City.“
Boys basketball: Cloquet, Wood City sees mixed results
CLOQUET — When Kory Deadrick was hired as the new Proctor boys basketball coach in June, the Esko native knew he wanted to join a holiday tournament.
One quick call with his good friend Kyle Allen in Pine City and it didn’t take long for the Dragons’ coach to sell the 23-year-old Deadrick on joining Cloquet’s annual Wood City Classic.
“It’s the best tournament in the state,” Allen said. “We love that we’re a part of it. Put us down in pen.”
“He said ‘You got to get in,’” Deadrick said. “He got me in.”
Deadrick, who also played in the event for Esko in 2010 and 2011, joined the fun last weekend, watching his Rails upend Allen’s Dragons 55-46 on Friday, Dec. 27, and a day later, get edged by Cromwell-Wright 60-57 in a shot-for-shot overtime thriller.
The competition was so tight that for the second straight season, all four boys’ squads split results, as Pine City also clubbed Cloquet 72-37 in the event’s nightcap Saturday, Dec. 28, yet the host Lumberjacks carded a 69-57 win over Cromwell-Wright a day earlier.
“We’ll be back next year,” Deadrick said. “Count us in.”
The Cardinals and Rails were nip-and-tuck all Saturday afternoon, as when Cromwell-Wright would grab a slight lead, Proctor would pounce right back, and so on.
It was Micah Pocernich-led Cardinals who prevailed, as the senior scoring-machine took over in the extra frame. While classmate Gage Zoeller (22 points) paced the way in regulation, Pocernich (21 points) produced in bonus time, scoring several crowd-rousing baskets of great difficulty. The veteran duo are the only two back from last year’s state tournament squad.
Cardinals coach Bill Pocernich — Micah’s father — said he brings his team 20 miles eastbound on state Highway 210 each winter because of the close proximity and upscale in opponents for his Class A state-ranked crew.
Saturday’s overtime victory was the first for Cromwell-Wright (6-1) in their three years in the field.
“Any win in this tournament is good,” said Pocernich, now in his 24th season. “To be able to play this caliber of competition really helps us out later in the season. For us, it’s a deposit for March.”
It was Cloquet (2-7) who marched by the Cardinals on Friday, led by Adam Schneider (22) and Markus Pokornowski’s (20) 42-point effort. Mix Schneider’s silky jump shot with Pokornowski’s powerful presence in the paint, and the pair of 6-footers, are the Lumberjacks’ bell cows. When they’re clicking, it's as talented a tandem a ticket can buy.
“They’re really fun to watch,” Cloquet coach Steve Battaglia said. “A lot of what they do, you can’t coach. You put them in a position to be successful and watch them do their thing.”
Schneider added 17 points against Class AA state-ranked Pine City on Saturday, but it wasn’t nearly enough to tame the Dragons, who were breathing fire all night — connecting on 12 3-pointers from seven players.
“That’s what they do,” Battaglia said. “They get up and down the floor, put pressure on you, shoot a ton of threes and they made a ton of threes tonight. I don’t know if us being good would have mattered, because they were really good. They whaled on us.”
Led by their boisterous coach in Allen, the energy from the Pine City sideline is unmistakable and unrelentless. In turn, comes a chaotic brand of basketball that’s hard to duplicate.
“We really try to do it all from the top guy to the last guy,” Allen said.
The Lumberjacks are staying optimistic with still plenty of season in front of them, knowing they don’t want relevancy at the New Year, but rather two months from now.
“With the number of multisport athletes we have, we’re going to have to grind it out and round ourselves out come March,” Battaglia said. “That’s really all I care about. Three games in March.”
Wood City Classic
Friday, Dec. 27
Proctor 55, Pine City 46
Cloquet 69, Cromwell-Wright 57
Cloquet 69, Cromwell-Wright 57
Saturday, Dec. 28
Cromwell-Wright 60, Proctor 57 (OT)
Pine City 72, Cloquet 37
Pine City 72, Cloquet 37
Varsity: W (72-37)
