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NORTH BRANCH GIRLS

The North Branch girls basketball team was again the only local hoops squad to pick up a win last week, as they went 2-1 with a conference and section win and a loss to one of the tougher Mississippi 8 Conference teams.

North Branch 65, Big Lake 61

Ella Kuhlman’s career at North Branch has been a series of extraordinary performances, milestones, and big stat lines. She already set the North Branch single game scoring record this season with a 39 point outburst against Zimmerman, and she came close to breaking it again twice last week, beginning with a 38 point effort in a close win over Big Lake on Tuesday, January 28.

Kuhlman hit eight-of-16 three pointers on her way to the 38 point night, and also added 10 rebounds and three steals.

North Branch needed every point, as they overtook and held off the Hornets with a second half surge that saw them turn a one point deficit into the four point win. Bella Folkema was NB’s second leading scorer with nine points.

Becker 63, North Branch 30

Most teams try to focus on Kuhlman and make other players beat them, but she is good enough to overcome the gameplans. Becker, unfortunately, features some of the top players in the M8C, and they were the first team this year that was able to limit the senior guard and it resulted in a blowout loss for the Vikes.

Kuhlman scored a season low two points after going 1-of-9 from the field, including 0-for-6 from downtown. She did add nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Becker’s onslaught. Jo Bartkey led the Vikings with nine points and six rebounds. Becker was led by sisters Adele and Andersyn Changamire. The young duo – Adele is a freshman and Andersyn is an eighth grader – combined to score 35 points as a catalyst for the Bulldog offense. 

North Branch 75, Cloquet 64

The Vikes got back on track with an 11 point win over the Cloquet Lumberjacks, which was all the more impressive because North Branch trailed by five at halftime on Saturday, February 1.

Again, Kuhlman threatened her own scoring record, putting up 37 points on five-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. She also had 10 rebounds and 10 assists to notch a rare triple-double. Bartkey also had a great game for NB, scoring 16 points. Folkema had eight points and seven boards.

North Branch is now 12-7 on the season and currently sits as the third seed in Section 7AAA with Rock Ridge and Hermantown in front of them. 

  

NORTH BRANCH BOYS

Big Lake 81, North Branch 56

Despite playing the Hornets close in the first half on Tuesday, January 28, the North Branch boys basketball team let the second half get away from them, and Big Lake walked away with an 81-56 win.

North Branch was within five at the break, but a 42-22 second half in favor of the Hornets turned it into a blowout.

Ethan Thorsen and Jacob Knoespel each scored 20 points for the Vikings, but they didn’t get any secondary scoring as Vinny Dufeck was the next highest scoring Viking with six points. Big Lake was led by Lane Pettis, who scored 26 points.

Becker 80, North Branch 36

The Vikings couldn’t get any offense going against Becker on Friday, January 21 out west, and the Bulldogs had five players in double figures, and that was enough to lead to a 44 point blowout in favor of the home team.

CHISAGO LAKES BOYS

Monticello 101, Chisago Lakes 55

The Wildcats got a beatdown at the hands of M8C leading Monticello on Tuesday, January 28. 

The Magic had a near 40 point lead at halftime and cruised to a comfortable 46 point win. Joe Couwenhoven had 16 points for the ‘Cats and Colton Betts added 10.

Duluth Denfeld 82, Chisago Lakes 68

The ‘Cats hung in a bit longer against Denfeld on Friday, January 31, but the end result was the same as the Hunters won by 14.

Couwenhoven scored 18 points, Blake Siefert had 16 and Cohen Underhill added 12.

Chisago Lakes is now 1-16 on the year with their only win coming over Osceola before Christmas. Since then, they’ve dropped 11 games in a row and are at the bottom of the Section 7AAA standings.

CHISAGO LAKES GIRLS

Chisago Lakes’ woes continued his year as they dropped their losing streak to nine after going 0-3 last year.

They opened the week with a 76-29 drubbing at the hands of top-ranked Monticello on Tuesday, January 28.

They had a better effort against Mound Westonka on Friday, January 31, but still fell 55-44.

They got back into conference play on Saturday, February 1, taking on Big Lake. The Hornets were just 2-15 on the year heading into the game, but they took it to Chisago Lakes, winning 52-36 at home.

Despite their 2-18 mark in the year, the Wildcats still have the inside track at the sixth seed in the eight team Section 7AA. Hibbing and Denfeld are also having down years.

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