Bagley, Kelliher-Northome off to great starts this season

BAGLEY – After falling 78-30 to Thief River Falls, which is ranked No. 10 in the state Class 3A poll, Bagley’s girls basketball team has defeated Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 74-40 and Waubun 67-48.

On Friday the Flyers will visit Clearbrook-Gonvick.

“We struggled offensively against Thief River Falls’ half-court pressure,” said Bagley coach Brandon Schwegel.

Kari Skersick led Bagley with 15 points.

“It was a tough loss but we will just focus on moving forward and won’t allow one game to define our season.”

The Flyers rebounded from that performance to thump WHA as Sean Benson scored 25 points and Skersick 20.

Jaysha Pemberton added 14 points and seven assists and Jasmin Nelson tallied 11 points.

“Our offense came out of the gates early, opening with an 18-2 run,” Schwegel said.

By intermission Bagley owned a 40-24 lead and the outcome was decided.

“It was fun to have so many people contribute to the win,” Schwegel said.

Kelliher-Northome also is 2-1 in the early going as the Mustangs sandwiched wins over Laporte (76-18) and WHA (82-57) around a loss to Fosston (57-56).

On Friday Kelliher-Northome will host Nevis.

Katey Lutz tied her personal record with 34 points against Laporte. The senior also grabbed 12 rebounds, dished three assists and had four of K-N’s 33 steals.

Junior Kelly Heck had 19 points, seven assists and school-record 11 steals. Sophomore Bre Salmonson added 10 steals.

In the home opener against Fosston the Mustangs opened a 23-7 lead but foul trouble later in the half forced four starters to sit the final minutes of the stanza.

By intermission Fosston drew even at 29-29 and the teams exchanged the lead throughout the second half.

Kelliher-Northome’s half-court shot at the buzzer rattled the rim but failed to drop and Fosston hung on for the victory.

Lutz had 20 points and eight rebounds. Senior captain Carrie Carrigan snatched 19 rebounds while Heck had 18 points and senior Shelene Head 10 points.

Clearbrook-Gonvick is 4-0 after downing Stephen-Argyle 64-49, Kittson County Central 47-32, Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 65-64 in overtime and Red Lake County Central 74-34.

The Bears host Bagley Friday.

Red Lake won its first two games, trimming Warroad 65-57 and stopping Hill City 68-31. Today the Warriors visit WHA.

Cass Lake-Bena lost its first three outings. In the season opener the Panthers fell 74-33 at Fosston and CL-B also has dropped an 81-22 decision to Pine River-Backus and 67-54 to Nevis.

Both of those games were at Cass Lake-Bena.

The Panthers are off until Dec. 11 when they travel to Red Lake.

Laporte also is 0-3, losing 76-18 to Laporte, 54-20 to WHA and 53-24 to Blackduck.

Today the Wildcats travel to Pine River-Backus.

Boys basketball

Red Lake won its season opener Tuesday 78-47 to Red Lake County in the opening round of the Northland Community College tournament.

The Warriors are scheduled to face Goodridge-Grygla-Gatzke at Northland CC today.

Cass Lake-Bena began its season with an 81-70 victory over Pine River-Backus.

Today the Panthers will host Nevis.

Clearbrook is 1-1 after the first week, downing Sacred Heart 66-51 but losing at Win-E-Mac 78-42. The Bears visit Bagley today.

Kelliher-Northome and Bagley lost their openers.

K-N fell 84-63 at Walker-Hackensack-Akeley and Bagley dropped a 69-52 home decision to Pequot Lakes.

The Mustangs travel to Pine River-Backus Saturday and the Flyers host Clearbrook-Gonvick today.

Laporte is 0-3 after losing 86-36 to Nevis, 78-28 to WHA and 81-33 to Blackduck. The Wildcats will be at Pine River-Backus today.