Prep report: Hermantown tipped in battle of No. 1's

Hermantown held out for a while but a third-period goal from Moorhead’s Brady Steffen proved decisive as the Spuds won 2-1 in a matchup of the current No. 1 boys hockey teams in classes A and AA at Hermantown Arena on Friday night.

The Spuds (21-1) haven’t lost since their Nov. 22 opener to Wayzata, but Hermantown worked around a decided shot disadvantage to grab an equalizer in the second period, with Charlie Marchand bagging a power play goal for a 1-1 game 9:29 into the middle frame.

That lasted about halfway into the third before Steffen struck at the 7:15 mark. Hermantown, which generated only seven shots on goal in the third period and 19 for the game, couldn’t respond to avoid back-to-back losses.

The Moorhead win was only their fourth one-goal game on the 21-game win streak and first in nearly four weeks.

The Hawks, who probably would have given up No. 1 in Class A to Cloquet-Esko-Carlton anyway after the Lumberjacks’ win on Thursday night , got 24 saves from Bryce Francisco.

The Rails went north and ran riot on Friday night in Ely, outshooting the host Timberwolves 48-8.

Tanner Ross piled up the stats, scoring twice and assisting on six Proctor goals for an eight-point night. He had a hand in each of the Rails’ first seven goals, scoring two. Austin Bryant finished with a hat trick and two helpers.

Ross’s bushel of ‘apples’ is, surprisingly only good for sharing a school record as Dom Talerico had six assists in a game for Proctor in 1997. The state record is seven, held by three players.

Devin Jacobs of the Sabres stuck it to Denfeld in overtime on Friday night in Sartell.

John Scott had evened the game 1-1 in the second period for the Hunters, and they might have thought they could pull out a road win when Mason Kingsley put them ahead with just 6:34 to play.

However, Preston Deragisch of Sartell equalized with 3:43 remaining and Jacobs scored an unassisted game-winner that knocked Denfeld back below .500 again at 9-10 overall.

Liam Fish made 35 saves for the Hunters.

Mayme Scott scored five goals and assisted on two others as the Wolverines crushed their opposition on Friday night at Iron Trail Motors Event Center in Virginia.

Scott had a hat trick wrapped up in the first period, then switched to assists in the second before tacking two more goals on in the third. Natalie Bergman and Riley Harju added three assists each.

Nola Kwiatkowski made 17 assists for the shutout for the Wolverines (10-10-4).

Kate Carlson scored back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to break a 1-1 tie in the second period en route to another win for the Lightning on Friday at Yanmar Arena in Grand Rapids.

Mercury Bischoff added a goal and two assists for GRG (18-5-1), which already knows it’s the No. 2 seed hosting Northern Tier in a Section 7AA quarterfinal on Tuesday night.

Kendal Gustavsson scored the only goal for Hibbing/Chisholm (5-18-2). Bryjah Schnipkoweit made 32 saves.

The Rebels couldn’t get much going offensively on Friday night against the defending Class A state champions in Moose Lake.

The Warriors held a 55-16 shot advantage and though Mallory Hartl made 51 saves for the Rebels, Payton Rolli was 16-for-16 in the Warroad net.

Moose Lake Area caps the regular season 10-14.

A 25-point night from Marnaries Ferguson helped the Hunters pick up a Section 7AAA road win and extend their season-long win streak to four games.

The Hunters built a 44-26 halftime lead and held it from there to get to 10-7 on the season. Lee Brooks kicked in 16 points and Carter Brown 15.

Jack Battaglia's 23 points proved enough to help Cloquet (14-3) hold off the Hawks on Friday night, Jan. 31 in Hermantown.

Alex Schott scored 15 of his 20 in the second half to keep the Hawks in it, but they fell to 3-14.

Brock Hurst was too much for the Agates to handle on Friday night, Jan. 31 in Two Harbors, as the 6-foot-6 big man put in 27 points as the Bombers won going away.

Pierce Korpela added 19 for Barnum (12-5), which busted a four-point game at halftime wide open by scoring 46 after the break.

Two Harbors fell to 7-12 despite 15 points from Jace Ruberg.

Dylan and Drew Nyberg combined for nine 3-pointers as the Cardinals won at home.

Cromwell-Wright (11-5) led 31-22 at halftime and built from there behind a total of 20 points from Dylan Nyberg, 14 from Drew Nyberg and 18 from Brady Dahl.

The Raiders got off to a good start in the first half and turned their 12-point halftime lead into a 15-point home win on Friday night in Coleraine.

Stephen McGee had 25 and Gage Olson 22 for Greenway, now 10-8 on the year. North Woods, which falls to 8-10, got 16 from Louie Panichi.

The Eagles hit the accelerator in the second half to pull away from South Shore on Friday, Jan. 31 in Port Wing.

Isaiah Ahlberg scored all 15 of his points in the second half, while Cade Lisson had 10 of his game-high 17 after the break. Solon was only up 24-15 before outscoring their opponents 39-12 in the second half.

Isaac Dickenson also scored 15 for Solon (9-6, 8-4 Northern Lights)

The Tigers made it eight wins in a row by prevailing on the road in Cumberland on Friday night, Jan. 31.

Jillian Kunert had a dominating performance down low, blocking 13 shots and scoring 10 points, while Abby Johnson ran rampant, scoring 34 points.

Northwestern, now 13-4 overall, remains unbeaten in the Heart O’North at 12-0.

The Rebels couldn’t overcome a 41-30 halftime deficit and fell to the Dragons at home on Friday night, Jan. 31.

Madison Wasche scored 18 and Maddie Volk 15, but the Rebels struggled to contain Pine City’s Mallory Clepper, who scored a game-high 23.