CLOQUET — Modern basketball is different.
Gone are the days of post hooks, dropsteps and mid-range jumpers. Analytics have turned the game into simple arithmetic: 3-pointers are more valuable than any other shot besides layups, and perhaps no program knows that better than Cloquet.
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“That’s what we are,” Cloquet head coach Steve Battaglia said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can shoot threes, and we like to work for a layup or a good-looking three.”
Cloquet’s embrace of its players and modern basketball strategy have yielded a truly prolific offense. Battaglia’s ‘Jacks are averaging 82 points per game. As a team, they are shooting better than 35 percent from long distance through their opening seven contests this year, six of which they’ve won.
There has been no better demonstration of Cloquet’s firepower than its 100-68 win against Hibbing on Friday, Dec. 20. Not only did the ‘Jacks score their most points since last December, but they did it while shooting 19-for-32 from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Jack Battaglia finished with a game-high 37 points, a staggering stat line that included seven makes from long range. When he and his teammates are shooting that well, he believes Cloquet is nearly unbeatable.
“If you get off to a hot start like that, you can beat any team,” Jack Battaglia said. “Everybody was knocking them down, too. When you make 19 threes, you’re going to win 99.9% of the games you play. That’s what we strive for.”
Jack Battaglia has long been the focal point of Cloquet’s offense, but this year, his teammates are connecting from long range, too. Classmate and fellow guard Noah Hansen, who is typically a defense-first player, buried six 3’s against Hibbing.
Cloquet’s coaching staff indicated that Hansen is the Lumberjacks’ primary defensive stopper. His assignment every night is slowing down the opposition’s most effective scorer, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get in on the offensive fun, too.
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“Noah shooting like that is an absolute game-changer,” Steve Battaglia said. “He’s our defensive stopper, so we don’t count on points from him. We want points from him, but we count on Noah to take other guys out of the game. That’s his job, so when he’s scoring, that’s just extra.”
Hansen knows defense is his main priority, but shooting confidently, which he did against Hibbing, is a byproduct of the green light Steve Battaglia and the coaching staff gave him and his teammates.
Every afternoon at practice, Cloquet’s coaching staff reiterates taking quality, open looks from deep. Every one of the Lumberjacks has a green light, and that’s something that gives Hansen reassurance to fire when the time is right.
“Everybody on the team has certain shots, he just tells us to take the shot if we have it,” Hansen said. “All of the shooting in practice has been paying off. We all get shots up.”
Cloquet’s sublime shooting helps the ‘Jacks overcome areas where they may be deficient compared to other elite teams, most notably, size. In a seven-player rotation, six of whom are seniors, only one is taller than 6-foot-2, and that’s 6-foot-3 Jacob Nelson.
To counter opposing size, Steve Battaglia has emphasized pushing the pace, particularly in transition, something that has helped Cloquet generate high-quality open 3’s while simultaneously avoiding the halfcourt offense.
“I want to play with tempo and in transition,” Steve Battaglia said. “If we can get a layup in transition or a good-looking three, we’re going to take it. We’ll run some offense, but the halfcourt doesn’t necessarily suit us. We’re not real big, so there is no advantage for us in the halfcourt.”
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With a veteran-laden team chock-full of elite perimeter shooters, Cloquet is confident in its potential this season. Whether it’s a Lake Superior Conference championship, a Section 7AAA title or a state tournament berth, the ‘Jacks believe it’s all within reach.
“State tournament,” Jack Battaglia said of what Cloquet is chasing. “Everyone in the locker room believes we can be there, and that’s the standard we’ve set for ourselves.”
Those aspirations weren’t pulled out of thin air. Cloquet has already knocked off a talented Duluth Denfeld team this season in a 71-68 thriller, a victory that reaffirmed these Lumberjacks are for real.
Cloquet’s hot start to the year has certainly put Section 7AAA teams on notice. Steve Battaglia has been coaching this senior group since they were in kindergarten, so he knows just what this group is capable of achieving.
He believes his roster, which is loaded with snipers capable of getting white-hot from beyond the arc, is as dangerous as any team in the section, and his goals reflect that sentiment.
“I think we’re really dangerous,” Steve Battaglia said. “We look at ourselves as a team that can win the section. It’s not easy, a lot of people want to make sure we don’t do that, but it’s fun to play with a target on your back.”
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