Boys Basketball: Hermantown Repeats as Section 7AAA Champions

Hermantown will look for their first-ever state tournament win next week.

DULUTH, Minn.- For the 2nd straight year, the Hermantown boys basketball team is heading to the state tournament.

The Hawks made that possible on Thursday, when they defeated Duluth Denfeld 70 to 59 in the Section 7AAA title game.

“We had goals right after last year. Losing one guy, Michael Lau last year. We lost his leadership, we lost his ability to have a presence down low and we knew that’s what we had to work on the most. They found a way to get it done in the off-season, they had high goals. As excited as they are right now, they know that we’re not done yet. We have aspirations not to get to state again but to be the first team in program history to get a win down at state,” said head coach Andy Fenske.

“It’s been a goal of ours since we were young, like youth basketball to make it to state. Now we’re just trying to get past it. The job’s not finished but it’s exciting to get to state. Denfeld played hard, they’re a really good team. They pushed us hard, and that felt good,” said senior forward Blake Schmitz.

The Hawks will learn who their first round opponent at state in the coming days.

Duluth Denfeld finishes the year at 16-13.