Lake Superior Conference Preview 2018

Duluth Marshall was one of the best stories in all of Minnesota girls basketball last year. Here was a team that was on an 11-year losing streak, 84 straight games without a single win in the Lake Superior Conference. 11 years! 84 games! And, so, what did they do? They went 5-2 in the conference, good for 2nd place, 17-6 overall. Marshall, you may not be aware, is a private school, formerly known as Duluth Cathedral. And it has to be said that Marshall’s new success goes to some degree to the larger weakness of girl’s basketball in Duluth. Duluth East used to be a power, with 10 state tournament trips over the years, including one as recently as 2012 when the Greyhounds went 22-6. You might recall an incredible group of 6-footers at East since then, at least one of whom, Hannah Johnson, has gone on to a nice career at Bethel. They had won 8, then 10 games as sophomores and juniors, and seemed poised for a big breakthrough in 2015, when the Duluth athletic administration hired Joaquim Harris as their coach. Parents at Marshall roll their eyes about this, because they had been totally unhappy about Harris’ performance, and this was at a school with its multi-year losing streak. So, he had been let go at Marshall when he was handed the plum job at Duluth East. The Greyhounds won 13 and lost 14 with those four 6-footers, then won 3 and then 2 games the following 2 years. Which brings us back to Marshall, which is now where Duluth girls go who want to play someplace where girls basketball is treated with respect. (While East was dropping from 13 to 3 to 2 wins, Duluth’s other public school, Denfeld, was winning 5, then 3, then 0 games in the Lake Superior Conference.) Meanwhile, Marshall has brought in the highly respected coach, Adam Johnson, whom some of you may know as coach at the Northern Lights club. Still, the question remains whether Marshall can move up from #2 to win a conference championship. Hermantown remains a formidable obstacle and Ashland and Superior, WI, do the same. The 3 of them have won every conference title the past 11 years—Superior 5, Ashland 4 and Hermantown 3. And, we’re not going to be much help, looking into our crystal ball, because our crystal ball does not include any information about the Wisconsin teams. But, among the Minnesota 5 in the Lake Superior Conference, here’s how we see the pecking order. (For the record, Superior was 3-2 last year and Ashland 1-4. It was the 1st time in at least 11 years that the 2 of them were below .500 on a combined basis, so I suspect they’ll be improved.) 1. Hermantown 8-0, 1st last year Hermantown loses the wonder Jordyn Thomas, who is playing basketball and volleyball at UMD. But returns 3 terrific 6-footers in Sierra Bolen, Ellie Gamradt and Taylor Vold. Still, much is riding on the maturation of point guards Kylee Hren and Maddy Foster. Foster, a 5-6 sophomore, is perhaps the heir apparent ahead of Hren, a 5-5 junior. Last year, Foster was recklessly aggressive against Zimmerman and almost turned the ball over enough in the 2nd half to lose a large Hermantown lead. Undoubtedly, better judgment will come. But inside, Hermantown is more than set with the 6-1 Bolen, who runs the floor and scores at the rim on breakaways and back cuts. The 6-1 Gamradt backed up Thomas last year, and showed a beautiful jump shot out to 15 feet, which enabled her to score 12 ppg game off the bench. Vold was a “point forward,” mostly a trigger on plays that went inside to Thomas, Gamradt and Bolen, but in addition to a great passing game, she also managed to score 10 ppg. 2. Cloquet 4-4 last year 3. Proctor 3-7 last year Cloquet and Proctor were just 7-11 in the conference last year. Both should be vastly improved. Cloquet returns 4 starters including Carmen Foss, 6-3 senior, and Allie Wojtysiak, 5-11 junior, inside where they combined for 23 ppg and 19 rebounds. Meanwhile, guards Kendra and Vanna Kelley combined for 16 ppg and 5.5 assists. Kendra is the one shooting it, mostly, Vanna the one distributing it. Cloquet has not won a conference title in more than a decade. It is not out of the question in 2018. Ditto Proctor and, in fact, they’ve won about half as many conference games as Cloquet. And, yet, a conference championship is not totally out of reach here either. Proctor returns 9 producers, led by 5-7 sophomore guard Sam Pogatchnik, who scored 19 ppg in her 1st varsity season. There’s also sophomore post Katelyn Marunich, who is 6-2 and scored 10 ppg. They alone make Proctor a dangerous opponent. But, they’ve also got sophomores Liz Frase at the power forward, and Sam Parendo and Morgan Nylund at the guard spots; and freshmen center Josie Maachs and guards Emma Terhaar and Faith Bowers, who scored 10 ppg among them. As we’ve said elsewhere, depth can be overrated. You can only put 5 players on the floor at a time. But, at the same time, there aren’t too many teams better equipped to handle some injuries and/or foul trouble than the Rails. 4. Duluth Marshall 5-2 last year Any good storyteller can tell you that the “correct” continuation of the Duluth Marshall story is obviously another bump upward to a conference title. It could happen. But, the Lake Superior will be so much tougher than last year, especially if Ashland and Superior return to their usual level. But Marshall does have 2 great athletes returning. Grace Kirk is a 5-5 sophomore guard, very athletic, there’s not much she can’t do out on a basketball court or with a basketball in her hand. And, Gianna Kneepkens in a 5-6 freshman, also a guard, who is an aggressive offensive player who can take over a game. Still, between them, there’s 21 ppg coming back from last year. Proctor returns more than 50 points, Cloquet more than 40. But, yes, Marshall does also have 5-6 junior guard Maggie Landherr returning, along with 5-7 senior Anna Eyer. Perhaps most of all, the next chapter of the Marshall story will be written by 6-1 senior Kate Kleinschmidt, who scored 3 ppg last year, and provides the only real size for the Hilltoppers. 5. Duluth Denfeld 0-6 last year Like everybody else in the Superior, Denfeld will be improved, but maybe not enough to actually win a conference game. Guards Gianna Torres, a junior, and Helen Clabaugh and Stephanie Ferguson, sophomores, and sophomore forward Elizabeth Emmel, will take Denfeld as far as they can. But, clearly, with their history and their youth, the future is most likely to be 2019 or 2020 than 2018. All-Lake Superior Conference (Minnesota schools only) Center—Carmen Foss, Cloquet, 6-3, senior, 12 ppg-10 reb Forward—Taylor Vold, Hermantown, 6-0, senior, 10 ppg Point Guard—Vanna Kelley, Cloquet, 5-5, junior, 6 ppg-3 asts Shooting Guard—Grace Kirk, Duluth Marshall, 5-5, sophomore, 13 ppg Shooting Guard—Sam Pogatchnik, Proctor, 5-7, sophomore, 19 ppg Second Team Center—Katelyn Marunich, Proctor, 6-2, sophomore, 10 ppg Forward—Allie Wojtysiak, Cloquet, 5-11, sophomore, 11 ppg-9 reg Point Guard—Sam Parendo, Proctor, 5-6, sophomore, 7 ppg Shooting Guard—Sierra Bolen, Hermantown, 6-1, senior, 9 ppg Shooting Guard—Kendra Kelley, Cloquet, 5-5, junior, 10 ppg-2.5 asts Stock Raisers Center—Josie Maahs, Proctor, freshman, 3 ppg Forward—Elizabeth Emmel, Duluth Denfeld, sophomore, 4 ppg Forward—Morgan Nylund, Proctor, 5-8, sophomore, 6 ppg Point Guard—Gianna Kneepkens, Duluth Marshall, 5-6, freshman, 8 ppg Shooting Guard—Gianna Torres, Duluth Denfeld, 5-5, junior, 5.5 ppg