Bayside Chatter: North Shore teams qualify for state

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The Silver Bay girls’ hockey 12U team wasn’t the only team that qualified for state last weekend. The North Shore Peewee B team, a cooperative between Silver Bay, Two Harbors, and Cook County also earned a trip to state at their Regional in Babbitt.

They defeated Ely 15-0, Blaine Blue 7-3, and Hermantown Gold 5-3 to go undefeated on their way to the championship. They will open play at state in Hoyt Lakes versus Buffalo Black, an unranked team, while North Shore was ranked No. 9 in the last poll. The girls will open play with Centennial Red, who were ranked No. 3 in the last poll.

Marina Carter and Taylor Guzzo each received honorable mention to the AP All State team. Carter and Guzzo, along with Shay Viola, played for Section 7 in the Senior Classic last weekend. Section 7 went unbeaten in the event and took third place. Guzzo and Viola each had two assists and Carter had a game winning goal in overtime.

Former Mariner Biz Huss had a hat trick for Bethel in a 5-4 overtime win in the MIAC playing game. Bethel fell 1-0 in overtime to eventual champion Gustavus Adolphus in the semis.

Marina Carter and Taylor Guzzo each played in the 8th annual K1 girls All Star game held in Cloquet. Carter’s team, the Ice, prevailed by a score of 7-2 with Carter getting an assist. Mariner Assistant Coach Katherine Chute was one of the coaches for the Fire.

North Woods in 7A and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva were the only unbeaten girls basketball teams entering the playoffs.

Alicia Nopola of the Mariners received honorable mention to the girls Polar League All Conference basketball team.

It turns out that the record for saves in a Minnesota playoff game is 102 set last year by Alex Darsow of Becker/Big Lake in a 4-3 triple overtime loss to River Lakes.

Congratulations to Luke Thun who set a new Mariner all-time scoring mark by breaking the previous mark of 1,496 held by Mark Otterbald.

Out of the 16 No. 1 seeds in section play, only Minnetonka of 6AA didn’t make it to state. Defending AA champion Eden Prairie didn’t even get out of the first round. The top seeds for state are Duluth East, Maple Grove, Eagan, and Edina in AA and Hermantown, St.Thomas Academy, Breck, and Thief River Falls in A.

The team of Earl Nikula, Shane Billings, and Tynan Clark came back from a semifinal loss to win five in a row and claim the title of the ninth annual Rink Rat 3-on-3 tournament. Casey Geissler was the top goalie.

Tags: sports