Pine Knot News - A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news

The No. 1 seeded Esko boys basketball team continues to cruise through the Section 7AA playoffs following an 84-47 victory over No. 8 seed Duluth Marshall Saturday at Hermantown High School. Esko... Full story

The Cardinals had a chance when they faced Mountain Iron-Buhl in the Section 7A championship game, but the Cromwell-Wright girls basketball team would have had to play a near perfect game to beat the... Full story

Aiden Theisen and Warren Hietala held the Lumberjack banner high as the two Lumberjacks wrestlers competed at the state wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul last week. Theisen,... Full story

Leilani Fonoti poured in 27 points Saturday afternoon to lead all scorers as the Lumberjacks got the monkey off their back against Grand Rapids, with a 74-60 win at Cloquet Middle School. Fonoti kept... Full story

The 7AA girls basketball season came to an end for local teams last week as Esko, Barnum and Moose Lake / Willow River bowed out of the tournament. Trailing 53-52, Esko had a chance to advance to the... Full story

Two Lumberjack wrestlers qualified for the state boys wrestling tournament this week in St. Paul: freshman Aiden Theisen and senior Warren Heitala. Theisen will make his second straight state... Full story

Izzy Fairchild helped the Proctor/Hermantown Mirage jump out to an early lead in the first period and go on to a 4-0 win Tuesday night over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton at Northwoods Credit Union Arena in... Full story

With the holidays on the near horizon, so too is the long-standing tradition of holiday sports tournaments between Christmas and New Years. Hockey and basketball take center stage over the break, but... Full story

It may have started in northern Minnesota, but Jamie Langenbrunner's hockey career has taken him across the country and around the world. But Wednesday, Dec. 6 brought him right back to northern... Full story

The Cloquet boys basketball team played tough Tuesday, but ultimately fell to North Branch 73-69 in this season's home opener at Cloquet Middle School. Head coach Steve Battaglia isn't worried. "We... Full story

The Cloquet and Esko girls basketball teams battled for the first time Tuesday with more than just bragging rights on the line. The Lumberjacks prevailed to win the first "Battle for the Paddle."... Full story

The Moose Lake/Willow River boys football team entered last week's Class AA quarterfinals confident after a section victory over Barnum and how well the defense had played all season long, but Eden... Full story

The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls hockey team evened its season record at 1-1 Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over the Moose Lake Area Rebels at Riverside Arena in Moose Lake. Lumberjacks junior defende... Full story

All season long, the Moose Lake/Willow River defense has played like a unit possessed by protecting the endzone. The Rebels entered the playoffs allowing an average of a little over 8 points per game... Full story

For the third consecutive season, Rush City ended the Esko girls volleyball season in the 7AA playoffs. Last year, a late comeback by Esko in the section final forced a deciding fifth set for the Tige... Full story

When they met for the season opener, Barnum's first victory over Moose Lake/Willow River came only after two overtimes. This week, the neighboring football teams will play again, with the Section 7AA... Full story

In the Section 7A championship game on Tuesday, Esko scored early and often for a decisive 4-0 victory over Marshall, eclipsing a September tie between the teams and sending Esko to state. Esko's... Full story

The Cloquet volleyball team raced to a fast start this season, a trend that continued with a sweep of Moose Lake/Willow River on Tuesday at Moose Lake Area School. Cloquet won the first set 25-15,... Full story

The Section 7A softball tournament has found its way to the final two teams as tournament action continued Tuesday at Braun Park in Cloquet. Defending section 7A champion Cherry will face Moose... Full story

Esko opened up section 7AA baseball action with a pair of victories Tuesday afternoon and evening. The top-seeded team was scheduled to face Rock Ridge at 2 p.m. Thursday at Superior High School... Full story

The Barnum boys basketball season came to an end Friday night as a state-ranked Nevis team defeated the Bombers 67-37 in the section 5A finals in Foley. Barnum - the top seed out of the eastern half o... Full story

The South Ridge boys basketball season came to an end Saturday at UMD in a hard-fought game against the No. 1 seeded Cherry Tigers. After falling to Cherry by 43 points in December, the Panthers... Full story

Evan Gustafson and Joe Peterson each scored 18 points as Barnum topped Cromwell-Wright 57-39 to capture the 5A east subsection championship Tuesday night in Hinckley. Gustafson, who hit three of... Full story

Barnum junior Rayna Klejeski had a big night last Thursday in the section 5A playoffs: not only did she score the 1,000th point of her career, she also hit the game-winning basket as the Bombers... Full story

The South Ridge girls basketball remained unbeaten with an impressive 68-24 victory Thursday at home over Barnum in a Polar League Conference matchup. The Panthers used defense and solid shot... Full story