Moose Lake-Willow River Boys Basketball Have Eyes On Second-Ever Section Title
The Rebels have improved their win total in every year since the 2015-2016 season.
MOOSE LAKE, Minn. – Wrestling legend Ric Flair always says “to be the best, you got to beat the best.” In Section 7AA, the Esko boys basketball team is always the team to beat. But a new team is looking to take that top spot: Moose Lake-Willow River.
Last weekend, the Rebels pulled away in the second half for a big win over the Eskomos. And although it was just their third game of the season, the team knows how big of a deal it was to get their first victory over their rivals in nearly a decade.
“We had to beat Esko once to know that we could do it. Last year we had a very close game with them so I think from a confidence factor if we see them in the the playoffs, it will go a long ways if we see them in March,” said head coach Wes Cummins.
“We knew it was going to be a close game and we were going to have to play the whole game defensively and offensively good. But it was good to finally get a look and play against some good competition,” said forward Brady Watrin.
Moose Lake-Willow River has improved their win total in every year since the 2015-2016 season. And now, they’ve got their eyes on just their second ever trip to the state tournament.
“We’ve came together as a team and basically just played our best ball so far and we got to keep it up. We got to keep improving every day and see where we go. Knowing that we might not have a season earlier on, every game is just a blessing. I hope we can keep going and see what happens,” point guard Mason Olson said.
“We’ve had the same kids for the last couple years, and now they’re just a little bit older. They’re coming together and we’re moving the ball around nicely. In previous years, Mason and Brady had to score a lot of points. But we’re seeing a lot of balance in our scoring this year,” said Cummins.
The Rebels will look to stay undefeated as they take on South Ridge Friday night, who are unbeaten as well.
