Rangers cruise into 7A quarterfinals, 104-44

The win sends the Rangers into Saturday’s 7A quarterfinals where they’ll take on No. 5 Fond du Lac Ojibwe at 12:30 p.m. at Duluth Denfeld High School.

MI-B wasted little time applying the aforementioned defensive pressure, with MiCaden Clines taking the opening tip and laying it in for two before the Rangers gave the Wrens trouble simply inbounding the ball.

Wrenshall got past halfcourt after some work, but MI-B picked up a quick stop and converted on the other end with Mason Clines dishing it off to younger brother MiCaden for two more, 4-0. MiCaden Clines stayed active in the early going, picking up a steal before handing it off to Nik Jesch who laid it in, 6-0.

Wrens head coach Jon Bartczak called a timeout just over a minute into the game, but the Rangers came out hungrier after the break. After another stop, Jesch dished things off to MiCaden Clines who added two, Josh Holmes drove to the hoop the next trip down for another basket. Clines kept his hot start moving, scoring on a transition layup that made it a 12-0 game.

The Wrens got on the board with Carter Woodall hitting one of two free throws before Peyton Johnson found an open lane and drove to the hoop for two more.

MI-B wasn’t fazed, as they quickly opened up a 22-point lead that made the outcome a forgone conclusion. Capping off a solid first seven minutes, Jesch scored four more times for the Rangers, twice off the steal and once from beyond the arc. Clines added a three of his own to aid in the next run, 29-7.

Things got even further out of hand when senior Asher Zubich started finding ways to score, letting the foursome of himself, Clines, Holmes and Jesch put on a show in their final home game of the season.

“I thought we ran the floor really well,” Buffetta said after the game. “Early on, we had good defensive pressure and we were transitioning and getting the ball up the court. We were passing well so I’ll take all of those things. It’s good to see the guys moving the ball and doing what we needed to do.”

MI-B cruised into the half up 68-23. Jesch had 25 at the break while Holmes and MiCaden Clines had 15.

The game was put into running time during the final nine minutes of play while the Rangers only expanded their lead, utilizing every player on their bench to do so.

Securing the 104-44 win, the seven MI-B seniors suited for the game—Zubich, Jesch, Holmes, Riley Busch, Alex Schneider, Carlos Hernandez and Mason Clines—got to finish things off on their home court with a win. Freshmen when he took over as head coach Buffetta said this year’s crop of seniors is a special one.

“This is the group I’ve been with since I took this job. Some of these guys have been starting all four years. They’re a dedicated group and they put in a lot of time into the sport. Watching them play well today was nice. Hopefully they have a few more left in them.

Jesch led all scorers in the win with 28 while Zubich and Holmes had 20 apiece. MiCaden Clines finished with 17. Johnson tallied 14 for the Wrens.

Much like last season, the quarterfinal field of this year’s 7A tournament will feature a stacked four-game lineup Saturday. When it comes to the rest of the section and their opponent in Fond du Lac that day, Buffetta says there’s reason to be excited for Northland basketball.

“The fun thing about Section 7 boys basketball is that when you get to the quarterfinal, there’s eight really good teams. It’s a pretty well-rounded section. Saturday, people should come down and watch because there’s going to be good games the entire day.

“Fond du Lac, we had two good games with this year. They’re a very talented team that can put the ball in the basket. We’ll have to be ready. I liked what I saw today in terms of energy and effort so if we can do that again on Saturday we’ll have a good chance.”

Buffetta says strong defense will be the key in a game that features two high-scoring offenses.

“We’re going to have to play good defense against them. They’ve got some length to them which has given us trouble in the past so we’ll have to see what we can do against that. Offensively, hopefully we can move the ball and break them down a little bit.”

WHS 23 21—44

MIB 68 36—104

Wrenshall: Carter Woodall 9, AJ Olesen 7, Wes Ward 4, Uriah Loucks 10, Peyton Johnson 14; Three pointers: Olesen 1, Loucks 1, Johnson 3; Free throws: 5-8; Total fouls: 3; Fouled out: none.

Mountain Iron-Buhl: TJ DuChamp 5, Asher Zubich 20, Rylen Niska 7, Josh Holmes 20, Nik Jesch 28, Carlos Hernandez 5, MiCaden Clines 17, Alex Schneider 2; Three pointers: DuChamp 1, Zubich 3, Niska 1, Anderson 2, Jesch 4, Hernandez 1, Mi. Clines 2; Free throws: 2-3; Total fouls: 9; Fouled out: none.

No. 6 Ely 66,

No. 11 Bigfork 39

ELY—The Ely boys’ basketball team has cleared their first hurdle of the postseason, downing No. 11 Bigfork 66-39 in a Section 7A second round contest.

The sixth-seeded Timberwolves were led by Joey Bianco and Jack Davies, who poured in a combined 46 points. Bianco finished with 25 while Davies had 21, all of the latter’s coming from beyond the arc

“We jumped out to an early lead,” Ely head coach Tom McDonald said. “It was a bit more even in the second half but we had built up a solid lead that allowed us to play more comfortably. Jack had five threes in the first half for us and that was what kind of pulled us ahead.”

The win sends the Wolves into Saturday’s quarterfinals where they’ll take on No. 3 Northland. With the Eagles soundly eliminating Ely in their playoff opener last year, McDonald is hoping for a more exciting game just more than a year later.

“We got beat by them pretty badly last year to start the playoffs. I’m hoping we come out and compete better this time around.”

Saturday’s quarterfinal is set for 5:30 p.m. at Duluth Denfeld High School.

BHS 18 21—39

Ely 41 25—66

Bigfork: Matt Vosika 3, Caden Rahier 11, Chase Jacobson 4, Bradley Haley 5, Jhace Pearson 16; Three pointers: Rahier 3, Pearson 3, Vosika 1; Free throws: 4-8; Total fouls: 13; Fouled out: none.

Ely: Joey Bianco 25, Jack Davies 21, Caid Chittum 7, Jason Kerntz 5, Erron Anderson 8; Three pointers: Davies 7, Bianco 1, Chittum 1, Kerntz 1; Free throws: 6-7; Total fouls: 9; Fouled out: none.

No. 7 North Woods 89,

No. 10 L-BF 71

COOK—The North Woods boys’ basketball team will make another trip into the 7A quarterfinals after securing an 89-71 win over Littlefork-Big Falls on Thursday.

Brenden Chiabotti and Jonah Burnett led the way for the Grizzlies in the win with 22 points apiece. Jared Chiabotti added 15 and Kaden Ratai tallied 11.

The Vikings were paced by Tommy Larson’s 21 points. A.J. Knaeble finished with 20.

North Woods will next take on second-seeded Cherry on Saturday at Duluth Denfeld High School. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.

LBF 29 42—71

NW 52 37—89

Littlefork-Big Falls: A.J. Knaeble 20, Tommy Larson 21, Lvui Thydean, Seth Donner 5, Jason Boorman 5, Brayden Maish 3, Owen Erickson 9; Three pointers: Knaeble 2, Larson 3, Donner 1, Erickson 1; Free throws: 12-21; Total fouls: 16; Fouled out: none.

North Woods: Brenden Chiabotti 22, Jared Chiabotti 15, Jonah Burnett 22, Luke Will 2, Louie Panichi 3, Talen Jarshaw 2, Ben Kruse 3, Kaden Ratai 11, Kalvyn Benner 6; Three pointers: B. Chiabotti 1, J. Chiabotti 2, Panichi 1, Kruse 1, Ratai 1, Benner 2; Free throws: 14-16; Total fouls: 15; Fouled out: none.