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Seniors Nathan Hill, Abe Soumis and Peyton Menzel combined for 81 points as Hermantown held on to edge Rock Ridge 101-99 in a Section 7AAA basketball semifinal Friday night at Hermantown Middle School Gym.
Hill finished with a game-high 32 points, and Soumis contributed 25 points and Menzel 24. The Hawks led 49-31 at the half before the Wolverines made a major second-half push.
“Heading into the game, we talked about the upset minded Wolverines,” said Hawks coach Andy Fenske. “They were playing with house money after their first game, and we had three things we needed to execute. In the first half we did a great job, but in the second is when we had some mental lapses but were able to close the deal.”
Top-seeded Hermantown (21-7) will face second-seed Chisago Lakes (21-7) – which clipped visiting North Branch 69-62 in a semifinal Friday night – in the 7AAA final Thursday at 7 p.m. at Duluth Denfeld Gym. The Hawks edged the Wildcats 104-101 on February 26 in Lindstrom, Minnesota, with Soumis scoring a game-high 48 points.
“We’re looking ahead to Thursday for a rematch (against Chisago Lakes) with everything on the line,” said Fenske. “We need to focus our efforts on the defensive side. We have our offense in a decent spot, with a few small things here and there to fine tune, but if we can execute on the defensive side this week we’ll be setting ourselves up for a great chance to be cutting down the nets.”
Hermantown is seeking its third straight 7AAA title.