Prep report: CEC boys make most of middle period vs. Bemidji

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton shook off a middling start with an excellent second period, scoring four times in the middle frame of a 6-4 victory over Bemidji at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in Cloquet on Friday night, Jan. 24.

CEC found itself trailing 2-1 after 17 minutes after goals from the visitors’ Nick Johnson and Conor Stodgell sandwiched a power play tally by Grady Knutson.

Knutson kickstarted the home team in the next period by scoring his second goal of the game. It remained 2-2 for a few minutes, but Bobby Thornton, Leo Luense and Jordan Sewell put together a trifecta of goals in 5:10 late in the second period.

Niko Gentilini gave CEC an insurance goal after Stodgell scored his second to make it 5-3.

Jamis Halverson made 25 saves for CEC (15-4), while Christian Hill stopped 19 for Bemidji.

The No. 2 team in Class AA sped past the No. 1 team in Class A on Friday night, as the Cadets scored four unanswered goals to knock off the Hawks in Mendota Heights.

The Hawks’ Alexander Nicklin put his team in the lead after just 33 seconds of play and Kole Lendzyk’s power play goal made it 2-1 at the 8:37 mark, but the Cadets had the next four goals, with Michael Mian and Jackson Rudh recording a goal and assist.

Bryce Francisco made 26 saves for Hermantown, which fell to 12-5-3.

A Hayden Clow power play goal was all the offense the Raiders could muster on Friday against the visiting Prowlers at Hodgins-Berardo Arena in Coleraine.

The Raiders were outshot 57-11 and goalie Blayne Kelly kept it close by making 53 saves for Greenway (6-9-1).

The Storm’s Nina Thorson continued a spectacular hot streak on Friday night, recording a hat trick for the fourth consecutive game as North Shore took down the Dragons at Sonju Arena in Two Harbors.

Thorson had hat tricks on Jan. 14 vs. Rock Ridge and Jan. 17 at International Falls. On Wednesday at Hibbing/Chisholm, Thorson was originally marked down for two goals before the scoresheet was corrected, before she raised her total with goals 29, 30 and 31 on Friday night.

Sarah Stauber scored twice and had two assists, while three others had multi-point games. Goalie Emmy Bentler made 19 saves.

Teagan Christy and Claire Tobeck combined on a 31-save shutout as the Lightning won a game played outdoors at Yanmar Arena in Grand Rapids.

Kylie DeBay had the game’s only 5-on-5 goal, while Mercury Bischoff scored into an empty net.

Kate Carlson assisted both GRG goals.

Gracyn Schipper scored a power-play goal with just 62 seconds left as the Northern Stars grabbed a tie against the Wolverines on Friday night at Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia.

Haley Martinson gave Duluth a 2-0 lead with consecutive goals in the first period, but Mayme Scott tied it up with power play goals in each of the first two frames, then finished a natural hat trick at the 9:04 mark of the third.

Duluth had a 9-3 shot advantage in overtime but no goals were scored.

Aaili Anttila made 27 saves for Duluth (9-6-5), while Nola Kwiatkowski stopped 37 shots for Rock Ridge (8-10-4).

Duluth Denfeld rebounded from an inconsistent first half to pick up a Lake Superior Conference win at Hermantown.

The Hunters jumped out to a quick 10-point lead, but the Hawks cut the lead to three with about 2 minutes to play in the first half.

Marnaries Ferguson scored five of his game-high 29 to extend the Denfeld lead back to 10 before the half.

Lee Brooks finished with 20 points for Denfeld (8-8) and Carter Brown had 15.

Esko senior Sam Haugen hit eight 3-pointers and scored 35 points in the win over Two Harbors.

Jackson Peterson added 22 for Esko (11-4), while Graham Hartlieb and Braxdyn Male each had eight.

Jace Gomez scored 23 points to lead the Agates (6-10).

Gage Olson scored 22 points to lead the Raiders past Nashwauk-Keewatin.

Greenway (9-7) led by 21 at halftime, but opened up the scoring in the second with 53 points.

Joining Olson in double digits were Stephen McGee with 12 points and Mekhi McCoy had 10.

Warren McLouden scored 10 points for the Spartans (4-9).

Eli Youngs led the Rebels with 30 points and Layne Radzak had 20 in the rout of the Raptors.

Jackson Walker added 10 points for Moose Lake/Willow River (8-6).

Carlton/Wrenshall (1-11) senior Jackson Korpela led all scorers with 33 points.

Lawrence Oberg scored 27 points for the 4-11 Bluestreaks, but it wasn’t enough to top the Mercuries.

Cooper Geyen led McGregor with 25 points.

Jake Taggart scored 17 points and Isaiah Ahlberg had 16 in the Eagles' win over Mercer.

Solon Springs was extremely balanced with four players in double figures and another with nine points.

Cade Lisson finished with 12 points for the Eagles (8-5, 7-3 Northern Lights), Isaac Dickenson had 11 and Taven Nelson had nine.

Boden Teal led the Tigers with 29 points and sophomore Tysen Teal had 17 in the win over Spooner.

Northwestern (8-4, 6-2 Heart O'North) trailed by 11 early and survived an onslaught of 13 3-pointers by the Rails to get the win.

Oscar Danz added 11 points for the Tigers and Kamden Kroll had 10.

Anna Serna scored 22 for the Tigers and Aunika Helms had 15 in the 22-point win over East Central.

Arabella Grotberg scored eight points for Cherry (8-9) and Aimeelee Grotberg had seven.

Kennadee Volk led East Central with 11 points.

Rachel Bopp scored 27 points to lead the Agates to a non-conference win Friday.

Belle Bolle and Olivia Hagglund each had 10 points for Two Harbors (9-8).

Maurissa Hendricks scored 17 points to lead the Hunters (5-11).

Solon's Claire Beernsten had a massive stat line against an overmatched Mercer squad on Friday night, putting up 32 points, 23 rebounds and nine steals in her team's easy home win.

The Eagles have now won 11 Northern Lights Conference games in a row.