Hawks rally late to beat Bluejackets

In all, Hibbing missed 14 free throws through the entirety of the game, and it came back to haunt the Bluejackets at the end.

“Those are free ones we have to get,” Hibbing coach Chris Hanson said. “If they’re going to foul us and give us an opportunity to score without anybody guarding us, we have to take advantage of that.

“You miss 14 of them and you lose by two, obviously, you look back, those are the ones you need. That’s the difference between a team that’s going to make a run at the end of the year. We learn from that and move forward. We have to understand the things we need to work on.”

Hibbing started strong, but with the score 25-23 in favor of the Hawks, Hermantown went on a 16-6 run to end the half to lead 41-29.

Liv Birkeland did most of the damage with 23-first-half point.

“We lost communication, and we lost track of where their shooters were,” Hanson said. “Liv made a couple, she gained confidence and now she’s ready to shoot every time she catches the ball.

“It was making that transition from the zone to getting a hand into her face constantly. I thought we adjusted well in the second half. It’s those little things that we still have to clean up before the end of the year.”

Now, the question was how were the Bluejackets going to get back into the game?

Hibbing answered that question fast in the second half.

The Bluejackets went on a 12-0 run in the first four minutes of the half to take a 42-41 lead.

In the next four minutes, Hibbing went on a 15-7 run to lead 57-48.

With just over six minutes to play, the Bluejackets took their largest lead of the game, 65-50.

“We played defense, and we stopped giving open looks,” Hanson said. “We stopped Birkeland, and we rebounded a lot better. We started to take care of the ball, but it all started with our defense.

“It was communication. You build up that lead and come all of the way back, those are the things you learn from and understand the things we have to do better.”

That big run is something Hanson has been waiting for all season long.

“It speaks to the potential of this group,” Hanson said. “When we’re moving and working as a group out there, not forcing anything or rushing anything, we run our offense for five or six good passes, then we understand we can get a layup out of that.”

“It’s about building off of that. It’s a realization that we’re a good-shooting team. We’re capable of, when we’re playing as five, and we’re moving the ball, that we can score everytime down.”

Hermantown, unfortunately for Hibbing, still had another run in it, and with some 3-point shooting from Lauryn Biondi, the Hawks started crawling back into the game, and with 1:15 to play, the Bluejackets lead was only one, 69-68.

Biondi nailed another three with 55 seconds to play to give Hermantown a 71-69 lead, but Emma Kivela came down and hit a deuce to tie it 71-71.

Hibbing played some tight defense in the final 30 seconds, but a foul was called with 2.9 seconds to play.

Birkeland, who finished with 38 points, hit the two free throws to give her team the lead.

One last 3-point attempt hit the rim and bounced off to give the Hawks the win.

The biggest problem was the free-throw shooting.

In the last three minutes, Hibbing missed those six shots, which would have comfortably given the Bluejackets the win.

“The expectation for that is never realistic going to shut someone out in the second half,” Hanson said. “You have to guard somebody, but we have to finish the game by making our free throws.”

Biondi finished with 18 points, all threes. Birkeland hit five threes.

Kivela had 22 points to lead the Bluejackets. Reese Aune had 17, including four threes, and Talia Carlson 12 to lead a balanced attack.

HEHS 41 33—73

HHS 29 42—71

Hermantown: Liv Birkeland 38, Emma Herstad 4, Kellyn Biondi 8, Lauryn Biondi 18, Isabella Wojtysiak 3, Bailey Hermanson 2.

Hibbing: Tiffany Davis 8, Reese Aune 17, Talia Carlson 12, Jorie Anderson 2, Emma Kivela 22, Rylie Forbord 4, Kate Toewe 6.

Total Fouls: Hermantown 16-18; Hibbing 12-26; Fouled Out: None; Free Throws: Hermantown 16-18; Hibbing 12-26; 3-pointers: Birkeland 5, Lauryn Biondi 6, Aune 4, Kivela 3.

Cherry 57,

International Falls 42

INT’L. FALLS—The Tigers had four players in double figures en route to the victory over the Broncos on the road Tuesday.

Jillian Sajdak led the way with 16 points, followed by Anna Serna with 14, Faith Zganjar 13 and Kaylynn Cappo 11.

Lola Valenzuela had 11 points to pace International Falls. Abbi Hutchinson had 10.

CHS 33 24—57

IF 20 22—42

Cherry: Kenna Ridge 3, Anna Serna 14, Kaylynn Cappo 11, Faith Zganjar 13, Jillian Sajdak 16.

International Falls; Abbi Hutchinson 10, Gracie Swenson 9, Hannah Anderson 4, Piper Tomczak 8, Lola Valenzuela 11.

Total Fouls: Cherry 18; International Falls 17; Fouled Out: Ridge; Free Throws: Cherry 14-21; International Falls 14-20; 3-pointers: Ridge, Serna, Zganjar, Sajdak, Hutchinson, Valenzuela.

Greenway 69,

Silver Bay 46

COLERAINE—Klara Finke poured in 20 points as the Raiders beat the Mariners at Karen Tomberlin Gymnasium Tuesday.

Layla Miskovich and Chloe Hanson both had 11 points for Greenway.

Danika Thompson had a game-high 31 points for Silver Bay.

SB 15 31—46

GHS 44 25—69

Silver Bay: Mya Simonson 2, Colleen Szurpicki 6, Danika Thompson 31, Izzy Carey 4.

Greenway: Klara Finke 20, Frankie Cuellar 4, Layla Miskovich 11, Chloe Hansen 11, Kacie Eiden 4, Talia Saville 7, Lyida Johannsen 8, Hannah Fawcett 4.

Total Fouls: Silver Bay 8; Greenway 4; Fouled Out: None; Free Throws: Silver Bay ; Greenway 7-10; 3-pointers: Szurpicki, Thompson 2, Miskovich, Hansen 2, Saville.