Hurley holds standout to 8 points in big win

By JASON JUNO

sports@yourdailyglobe.com

Hurley — The Northstars didn’t have much luck slowing down Quintin Bresette the last time Bayfield came to Hurley. He scored 29 of their 53 points to lead the Trollers to a big win here.

“That was the big thing we talked about, let’s let someone else beat us other than (No.) 2,” Hurley coach Mike Swartz said.

That was last season. The last game Hurley played didn’t set very well with them either. They went to Drummond last week and lost 55-49 where they missed a lot of shots and played sloppy overall.

They put that all in the rearview mirror with a much better performance Monday night. They held Bresette to just eight points and they blitzed the Trollers for a 78-57 Northern Lights Conference victory.

“It was a good bounceback win,” Swartz said.

Bayfield led 34-32 going into halftime, but it was all Northstars in the second half. They made six of their eight 3s while holding the Trollers to just 23 points. They started the half on a 24-4 run over the first 7:17 while scoring in a variety of ways — Ty Hall on the break, a Logan Schilling putback and 3s by Jack Rowe.

Swartz told his team they needed to make at least four or five 3s to beat Drummond. They made two and one of them was at the buzzer. They were 8 of 22 from 3 in Monday night’s win.

“We’re tough when we can hit from the outside because we’re very athletic,” Swartz said. “We can get out and run, I think you’re going to see more of that out of us. We gotta get out in transition because we got some athletes that can get to the rim and play fast.”

It was Hurley’s physicality that keyed their defense. Bresette only scored a single point in the entire second half and the Trollers couldn’t keep up with Hurley.

“We know Quintin’s a heck of a ballplayer, probably even Player of the Year in our league category,” Swartz said. “Boy, I thought Jeremiah (Wallis) stuck on him, stayed in front of him, was physical with him and really rattled him. You could tell at the end of the night, he just had enough, getting the technical, he just really struggled and I think Jeremiah was great on the initial — being physical, staying in front of him. But we had guys to wall off the lane and force it out of his hands.”

Hurley had the big advantage on the glass as well, where they outrebounded Bayfield 47-20.

“I think the physicalness is the thing that hurt us,” Bayfield coach George Newago said. “I think we were getting outrebounded 5-to-1. They were getting three and four shots; anytime they put the ball up, they were scoring. And they were hitting a few 3-pointers they don’t normally hit.”

The Northern Lights is wide open this year. Bayfield already has a win over last year’s champion Solon Springs and at Drummond, while Hurley now has a big victory over the Trollers. The Northstars look like a tough matchup when they can shoot it well, play fast and be more physical than the other team.

“I still think we’re towards the top of the conference,” Newago said. “We just have to work on a few things. I’ve been telling them rebounding is important and we’ve got to do it. The physical play is what hurt us. My guys aren’t used to pushing. They’re a football team, they’re used to pushing. We don’t play football.

“Speed and finesse just didn’t do it tonight.”

Rowe paced the Northstars with 19 points, Hall had 17 and Schilling recorded a double double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Larry LaPointe led Bayfield (3-2) with 12 points.

Hurley (2-2) goes to Lac Courte Oreilles for a Northern Lights game Thursday night ahead of a big matchup at archrival Ironwood Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The Devils won last year’s game 44-32 and have started this season 3-0.

“They’re really good, they’re playing really well,” Swartz said. “They know how to win, it seems like they’ve won every close game so far this year. They’re going to be a tough deal.

“Axton (Ruotsala) makes them go, but he’s really good at distributing, he can get (Nick) Miskovich involved. I really like (Brendan) McCullough’s game, (Landon) Buerger’s game and then they’ve got (Joey) Lauzon and a few other guys, too.

“They’re going to be a tough test. I think they’re going to be charged up in their gym, so we gotta be ready.”

Bayfield — Remy Cadotte 9, Quintin Bresette 8, Richard Bressler 5, Dashon Tourdot 9, Max Gordon 7, Logan Antiel 7, Larry LaPointe 12. FTs: 6-15. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Bresette. 3-pointers: LaPointe 4, Cadotte 2, Bressler 1, Gordon 1, Antiel 1.

Hurley — Devin Soltis 3, Ty Hall 17, Jeremiah Wallis 9, Wyatt Hall 6, Jack Rowe 19, Brodie Erickson 2, Logan Schilling 16, Gavin Moore 6. FTs: 6-23. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: T. Hall 3, Rowe 3, Soltis 1, Wallis 1.

Bayfield 34 57

Hurley 32 78