Twin Ports Power 5: Full steam ahead for the Proctor Rails

DULUTH — The seventh-ranked Proctor Rails girls basketball team appears to be a runaway train.

After winning eight straight to start the 2024-25 campaign, Proctor lost a one-point thriller at Rock Ridge on Dec. 17. Since then, the Rails have rolled off six consecutive wins and are playing pretty remarkable basketball led by sharpshooter Chloe Carlson.

The senior guard, who connects from beyond the arc at better than 40%, will be pivotal in Proctor’s Jan. 21 contest at Duluth Marshall. The ninth-ranked Hilltoppers will clash with the Rails in a battle that could be a Section 7AA title game preview.

Marshall also finds itself highly ranked on this edition of the Twin Ports Power 5. There is no denying the athletic gifts of freshman Chloe Johnson, who averages 28.9 points per game, and 6-foot-7 eighth-grader Gabija Krasauskaite, a remarkable interior force.

As for the boys, that list has more Cherry than a downtown Duluth malt shop. The Tigers are 15-0 thus far and have only played one game within eight points this season.

Cherry is coming off a 2023-24 Class A state championship and the program has not lost a game since December 2023.

Cherry demonstrates selfless play, positionless basketball and a winning mentality night in and night out. The Tigers are a must-see basketball program. They’re the most dominant team we cover and as of January, it’s not particularly close.

There has been a lot of great basketball in the Twin Ports through the first two-plus months of the season.

— Reagan Hoverman

• This list and its comments are based on games prep sports reporters Jamey Malcomb and Reagan Hoverman have watched and/or stats that have been submitted to the Duluth News Tribune.
• This is a ranking of the top five basketball teams — boys and girls — in the Northland, regardless of class size.
• We are allowed to be prisoners of the moment. If a struggling team gets a fun win, they might pop up on the Five and disappear the next week.

• To keep things a little varied, we’re going to pick out three teams from the two rankings to write a little about each week.

The Rails had a bit of a scare Friday at Cass-Lake Bena in a 57-56 win, but I’m going to take this as a good sign.

The Panthers have been hanging around the top 10 in Class A. They’re not currently ranked, but they have been this season. They’re a good, solid team — minimum. Plus, this game was at Cass Lake-Bena and I’ll be honest, I’d rather play at Duluth East than some of those Class A gyms.

Take Cromwell-Wright’s gym, it’s nice, certainly appropriate to the size of school. I was there a few years ago for a section playoff game when the boys went to state in 2019. That place was INTENSE and the same goes for the girls. I’ve been to several regular season and playoff games there and it’s never an easy place to play.

A matchup at ninth-ranked Duluth Marshall on Tuesday will reveal much about how far either team can go this season.

— Jamey Malcomb

I don’t believe there is a better player in our area than Chloe Johnson.

She handles the ball, she can shoot, she can pass, she’s an aggressive defender and, as far as I can tell, she doesn’t get rattled.

I saw the Hilltoppers against Park Center, not a great AAAA team, but they are solid. Marshall absolutely throttled them in the first half and cruised to an easy win Jan. 4.

On the other hand, they’ve been handed devastating losses by the best in their own class, top-ranked Providence Academy on Dec. 28 and to No. 3 Minnehaha Academy on Saturday.

The Hilltoppers added considerable talent to the team in Candice Ndomb and Cairin Berger.

They’ve also added 6-foot, 7-inch post player Gabija Krasausaite to the mix and perhaps they are all still getting settled into their new roles.

That said, it is concerning the Hilltoppers haven’t been competitive with the top of Class AA, especially with second-ranked Crosby-Ironton lurking in their own section.

— JDM

The Wolverines lost four straight between Dec. 21 and Jan. 4, including an 82-65 loss to Class AA No. 2 Crosby-Ironton and a 55-51 loss to Class AAA No. 2 Alexandria.

Senior Anna Westby and running mates Lexi Lamppa and Maijia Lamppa are a formidable core for coach Byron Negen, who put together a much tougher schedule this season after Rock Ridge struggled in the state tournament — including a lopsided loss to Alexandria in the Class AAA quarterfinals.

The Jan. 4 loss to Becker — a game the Wolverines led by 18 in the first half — revealed a weakness. Rock Ridge can struggle to score for stretches, something that hurt them against the Bulldogs.

Still, they seemed to get back on track last week with back-to-back wins over Duluth East and East Grand Forks.

— JDM

There isn’t a lot left to be said about the Tigers — they are absolutely dominant. They are also, for my money, one of the most fun teams to watch out there. What’s more, there is no better definition of positionless basketball than Cherry.

The Tigers aren’t big, but they play fast, they play smooth and I would put that starting five up against almost any other in Minnesota. What’s most astonishing is they lost their best player in Isaac Asuma to the Golden Gophers.

Anyway, I took a look at their schedule and Cherry doesn’t have another game in the area, but the Section 7A tournament will hold its semifinals March 8. That’s a Saturday folks, and if you don’t have a team playing for a state hockey championship, get yourselves to Romano and watch this team. You won’t regret it.

— JDM

I watched Esko play about a week and a half ago. They are also a lot of fun to watch and they seem a lot more resilient than teams of the recent past.

Esko has dropped two straight and three of its last five, but the game I saw — a loss to eighth-ranked Blake — showed me something. They played well early and built a small halftime lead. Obviously, the Bears clawed their way back, but Esko didn’t quit.

A pair of Sam Haugen 3-pointers had them within striking distance in the closing minutes — that’s not something I’m sure would have happened last year.

I also thought Jacion Owens played some great defense and his quote saying if he’s “ruining someone else’s day — I’m having a great day,” is making me chuckle right now.

Esko has a big test Tuesday night against Duluth Denfeld — speaking of. …

— JDM

The Hunters have confused me a little bit this season, but after a stretch where they lost three of four, they’ve come back with wins over Proctor and Duluth Marshall.

Earlier this season, I spoke to coach Phil Homere about some earlier losses and his concern was “playing down” to Denfeld’s competition. I think the 26-point win over Proctor on Jan. 7 fits the bill. The Rails are much improved this season, but they are also a team Denfeld needs to dispatch with relative ease.

My guess is he wasn’t too displeased with a 12-point win over the Hilltoppers. Brooks Johnson can and will cause problems for any team Marshall plays, but the Hunters were able to keep him to a modest — for Johnson — 19 points.

— JDM