Laporte good enough to win

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 21, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The No. 1-seeded Laporte Wildcats looked anything but No. 1 in a 30-26 second round victory over the Sebeka Trojans Saturday in Section 6A East playoff action at BSU Gymnasium.

The Trojans, however, entering as the eighth-seeded underdog, gained the respect of many as they had their 20-1 Wildcats in their sights with as few as 40 seconds left in the game.

"You look at a 9-14 team and a 20-1 team, and no expects a game," Sebeka coach Mike Hepola said. "I don't think they expected to have a game after they beat us by 40 points earlier. No one probably expected this outcome."

Because of that earlier 79-32 thrashing Laporte gave the Trojans during the regular season, Hepola said, he wanted his team to slow the game down and force the Wildcats into a defensive battle.

It worked like a charm.

"All their close games this year were in the 30s, 40s and 50s," he said. "We knew if we got into a 80-point game we wouldn't be close."

So the Trojans took to the court passing the ball as many as 10 times on offense before taking a shot, and playing a gritty, zone defense forcing the Wildcats to do the same offensively.

Soon the Wildcats fell into the trap, passing on many open shots, and relying on their perimeter passing to open up the post players.

It never happened.

Laporte did take a 10-8 lead after the first period, but not without struggling.

Wildcat star Melissa Bessler connected on only 1-of-4 from the field in that stanza, and only got worse as the night wore on.

In the second period, Sebeka out-uglied Laporte to fall further behind.

Although the Wildcats hit only two field goals -- two Sam Hyatt layups -- in the period, Sebeka scored only two points in the entire eight minutes. Sebeka combined for only 1-of-10 shooting from the floor, to fall behind 17-10 at half.

But in the second half, the Trojans took control of the game again, mostly on the play of senior guard Carey Lien.

Although Lien only scored seven points in the second half, they were key buckets -- especially a trey late in the fourth to cut the Laporte lead to one. She eventually finished with 12 points to lead the Trojans.

In contrast, Laporte's Bessler shot a combined 2-for-12 in the second half -- missing on 9-of-10 shots at one point. She finished 3-of-19 with eight points.

Hyatt led the Wildcats with 12 points.

"Carey (Lien) has been our leader all year," Sebeka's Hepola said of his floor leader. "She stepped it up (tonight). She knew this could be her last game, and unfortunately it was."

Overall, neither team excelled in their shooting, with Sebeka finishing 8-of-28 (28.5 percent) from the floor and 8-of-14 (57 percent) from the free throw line. Laporte finished 11-of-40 (27.5 percent) from the floor, 0-of-6 from behind the trey and 8-of-21 on the free throw line (38 percent).

"We missed a lot of bunnies tonight. We got to the free throw line like we wanted, but we didn't make them," Hepola said. "There's always 'ifs' and 'buts,' but I'm really proud of them."

Laporte coach Jeff Dudley refused to comment after the game.

Northland-Remer 46, Hill City 43

Fifth-seeded Northland-Remer upset fourth-seeded Hill City 46-43 in the late Section 6A East quarterfinal held at BSU Gymnasium Saturday.

Erin Martin led the Eagles with 15 points, seven coming on free throws. Tracie Knapp and Julie Knapp each scored 12 to also finish in double digits.

For the losing Hornets, Erion Opheim led with 13 points, and Alaina Burt (11) and Holsman (10) followed.

Hill City took a quick 14-12 lead after one, but Northland-Remer battled back to take a 27-25 halftime lead. A third period 11-7 advantage all but sealed the game for the Hornets, even though they were down 11-8 in the fourth.