I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Feb. 27, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
The fourth-ranked Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears won the dubious honor of advancing to face the No. 1-seeded Red Lake Warriors Monday in the second round of boys Sub-Section 29A playoff action.
Clearbrook-Gonvick earned their shot at the defending champ by downing the fifth-seeded Lake of the Woods Bears 69-55 Friday at BSU Gymnasium.
C-G, a clear favorite entering the game, played a hesitant, sluggish first quarter, but managed to come away with a 16-8 lead.
But in the second, LOW's big man Andy Hart came off the bench and cleared himself several wide swaths to the basket. He eventually scored 13 points in the post by bruising and bumping himself into position, and Clearbrook-Gonvick didn't seem to have an answere for him.
And it was the zone that sealed LOW's fate, because at a time when they needed perimeter shooting, they shot only 2-of-15 from behind the three-point line in the second half.
Meanwhile, it was open season on scoring for Clearbrook-Gonvick as they had the time to take quality shots, and they were on fire.
They shot 14-of-22 (63 percent) from the field in the second half, making 8-of-9 in the fourth period alone. They tallied 27 points that quarter.
Lake of the Woods managed to scrap longer than most would have predicted -- entering the contest with only a 4-18 season record -- mostly because of their second quarter run. Thanks to Hart's presence they outscored Clearbrook-Gonvick 22-12 in that stanza to gain a two-point lead at halftime 30-28.
LOW even managed to keep only two points down by the end of the third at 42-40, but Clearbrook-Gonvick's Matt Berg entered the fourth quarter and nailed two quick treys to push the lead to 48-40.
Lake of the Woods was never again able to reverse the game's momentum.
"(Berg's treys) were a big turning point in the game," C-G coach Mark Bagaason said. "That just charged us up big time."
Clearbrook-Gonvick sealed the game with a late 7-0 scoring run, many points coming from free throws.
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