Holy Family's Joel Hanel was being too passive. Coach Matt Thuli needed his leader to become more aggressive.

After a brief stint on the bench, the senior forward came back to the elevated floor at Williams Arena ready to take over the Class 3A quarterfinal game against Cloquet. Hanel scored all 12 of his first-half points in the final nine minutes, helping the Fire turn a one-point deficit into a 13-point lead at the intermission.

“Our offense was a little stagnant,” Hanel said. “My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball, and I started looking for opportunities to score.”

That was exactly the spurt Holy Family (28-2) needed to advance to the semifinals. Hanel added two free throws after the intermission, finishing with 14 points, as the Fire kept plenty of distance between themselves and the Lumberjacks (24-5).

“Joe has been good all year at letting the game come to him,” Thuli said. “He is very patient. Once he got going, it opened up everything for our other players.”

Both teams’ big men, junior Justin Dahl of Holy Family and senior Adam Laine of Cloquet offset each other. The 6-foot-11 Dahl finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds while the 6-7 Laine had 13 points and 11 boards. Laine is the Lumberjacks’ leading scorer.

“No one guy on our team is going to beat you,” Hanel said. “We have six or seven who will beat you.”

RON HAGGSTROM