Sports Roundup: Jan. 15

• Abby Ray

Abby Ray shoots over an Esko defender last week. Jill Innis

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TH Nordic skiing

The Two Harbors Nordic team faced a strong challenge last week at the Giants Ridge Invite where more than 1,200 skiers took part in the largest high school Nordic ski race in the country.

Even though the temperatures were chilly and competition was tough, the Agates weren’t bothered.

“The Two Harbors skiers were excited about the race, even with the cold temps in the morning,” said head coach Sara Byrns. “A stomach bug hit a few team members, but for the most part, the team was healthy and up for the challenge of skiing at Giants Ridge.”

Leif Gilsvik was the top boy at No. 27 out of almost 200 skiers. Kaila Carpenter was the tops girls finisher at No. 50 out of about 200 skiers. The boys team was incomplete to place as a whole because they don’t have enough skiers. The girls team finished No. 46 out of 80 teams.

On Tuesday, the team competed in the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton Invitational.

“Our varsity skiers skied intervals prior to the race, to get additional ‘hard’ training on hills, so their results are not typical,” Byrns said. “They were tired when they started their race.”

Gilsvik was once again the tops boys finisher at No. 20. Sonja Peterson was top’s for the girls at No. 13. The boys team was incomplete so they could not place, while the girls finished in third.

TH hockey

The Agates lost three more games during the last week.

“Some of its just growing up,” head coach Steve Wasko said. He said many of the players have had success at other levels of hockey, but just can’t get it going at the high school level. “It’s a character thing.”

The Agates fell to Hayward last Thursday 7-0.

Hayward came out hot scoring five goals in the first period. Goalie Aaron Lee took the loss for the Agates with 30 saves.

On Saturday, the Agates lost to Pine City 5-2.

In the first, Pine City put one in at 8:22 only to be followed up by an Agates short-handed goal coming from Alex Anderson. In the second Pine City scored three consecutive goals before the Agates’ Casey Fitzpatrick could put one in on a power play (Ben Ruberg, Scott Comrie). In the third Two Harbors was held scoreless as Pine City scored one more. Lee had 34 saves for the Agates.

On Tuesday the Agates lost to Duluth Central 5-2. Two Harbors’ Mack Conrow started out the scoring in the first (Ruberg) on a power play goal at 13:42, while Central answered back with a goal later in the period.

“Our young kids played well against Central,” Wasko said.

In the second the Agates once again took the lead with a goal coming from Austyn Wasko (Ruberg) and the team held the lead going into the third period. That period was a different story for the Agates, as the Trojans put in four unanswered goals to close out the victory. Lee had 41 saves for Two Harbors.

TH girls basketball

The Agates lost to Esko 58-32 last Thursday.

They came out flat in the first half losing it by 15. Things didn’t get much better in the second half as they lost that by 11.

Abby Ray led the team with 18 points while Sierra Tietge and Nina Bukowski both put in four. Ray hit three three-pointers during the matchup.

Two Harbors fell to Floodwood 66-32 Monday.

Floodwood came out on fire taking a 23-point lead into the half. The Agates closed the gap a little bit in the second half, losing that by 11. The top scorer on the team was Bukowski who put in 11.

On Tuesday the Agates defeated Mesabi East 61-37 ending a seven-game losing streak.

Ray had 19 points with 11 rebounds while Tietge had 14 points and Katelyn Adams had 10. The team had a total of 11 steals.

Girls hockey

The Silver Bay/Two Harbors/Cook County Mariners suffered a pair of losses on their road trip to Minnesota’s northern border last week.

They lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Lake of the Woods Bears on Friday night. On Saturday evening they got smoked 16-0 by the state’s No. 1-ranked Class A Warroad Warriors.

The Bear’s game-winning goal came at 11:19 of the final period with some controversy involved. Kalene Krause scored the goal after the puck was coughed up on a check on a Mariner defender, which brought no call from the zebras, much to the contention of the Mariner bench.

Taylor Guzzo with an assist from Rachel Dilley had put the Mariners ahead in the first period. Shelby Nosan tied it up for the Bears in period two. Nikki Mealey took the tough loss with 20 saves in the Mariner nets.

At Warroad, the home team scored four in the first and five in the second. With the third period in running time, the Warriors continued to pour it on. This included a power play goal in the last minute of play from their top line. The Warriors outshot the Mariners 69-7 in the last meeting between the two teams.

On Tuesday, the Bay fell to Proctor-Hermantown-Marshall 10-1. After the first it was 2-1 PHM with a goal coming from Silver Bay’s Kirstin Sandstrom. After that, PHM scored a total of eight unanswered goals in the second and third to take the win. Mealey had 28 saves for the Bay.

SB hockey

After picking up a win in Two Harbors to double their victory output for the season, the Mariners followed that up with a couple of losses at home. They fell 9-6 to the Ely Timberwolves and then fell 5-2 to the Greenway Raiders last week.

The Mariners jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead over Ely and led 3-2 after one period of play. After going ahead 4-3 at 5:24 of period two, the Bay fell behind 7-4 at the 11:33 mark of the period after Ely scored four times in 66 seconds. The Mariners cut the deficit to 8-6 before the period ended, but could get no closer.

They outshot the Wolves 10-5 in the final period of play but couldn’t buy a break or a bounce, and when they did, Ely net-minder Cody Bialik was there to close the door.

The Mariners had many odd-man rushes and breakaways in the game, but only scored on one of them. Drew Holmen led the Mariner offense with a goal and three assists and Hunter Panetti added a pair of goals.

Also getting goals for the Bay were Warren Carter, Tyson Fultz and Shane Billings. Sam Swanson led the Wolves with four goals and Billy Foy, Greg Helget and Nick Matthews each added three points. Darryl Hansen finished with 27 saves for the Mariners.

Greenway jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead and led 4-0 before the Mariners could get on the board. Adam Mendoza had a hat trick for the Raiders and Nick Adams figured in on all five Raider scores. Billings and Carter scored the Mariner goals. Hansen had 30 stops for the Bay.

SB girls basketball

The Mariners lost in another blowout 77-33 to Ely last Friday.

“We had one of our better games,” head coach Larry Otterblad said. The team had struggled recently not being able to put up a score above 30.

In the first half it was all Ely as they outscored the Bay by 29. In the second half, the Bay did play better only losing that by 15.

Katrina Davis put in 19 for the Mariners with six assists.

Allana Lampton had five points with eight rebounds and Leigh Lampton had four points with seven boards.

On Tuesday, the Mariners lost to Cook County, 88-14.

“They had a smothering defense,” Otterblad said of Cook County. He said they are one of the top three teams in the area.

Davis had 10 points for the Mariners.

Otterblad said he expects his team to pull off a few wins in the coming weeks by the looks of the team’s schedule.

SB boys basketball

The Mariners lost in a very close matchup last Friday, 60-59 to Ely.

Sam Otterblad was the hot-hand for the Bay pouring in 18 with 11 rebounds. Henry Mitchell once again contributed to the offensive cause with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Luke Thun had a good all-round game with nine points, five boards, five assists and three steals.

The Bay fell to Cook County 74-51 Tuesday. Cook County came out strong in the first half winning it by 22.

They Bay only lost the second half by one. Thun led the team with 13 points while Kyle Blood put in 12 and Otterblad had seven.

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