After shoddy free throw shooting nearly cost Esko a victory in Wednesday’s Class 2A quarterfinals, the Eskomos were well aware of what needed to improve if it was to beat Fairmont in the semifinals.

“We took the day off to work on free throws,” said 6-foot-7 leading scorer Kory Deadrick. “We almost lost to East Grand Forks. We knew couldn’t win in the tournament if we couldn’t hit free throws.”

The extra practice worked wonders. The Eskomos coverted 18 of 22 from the line to pull away from Fairmont for a 56-43 victory.

For the first nine minutes or so, it appeared that Esko’s problems were not solved. Even though Fairmont’s Mitch Pfingsten, a 2,700-career point scorer, was shooting poorly, the Cardinals built a 21-9 lead.

Deadrick turned the Eskomos fortunes with a series of three-pointers late in the first half. Esko cut the deficit to 27-23 by halftime and carried the momentum into the second half, outscoring Fairmont 33-16.

“I consider myself the third-best three-point shooter in this team,” said Deadrick, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “So when I started making those, the other guys knew they could, too.”

The other guys were Casey Staniger, who added 18 points, including 10 of 12 from the free throw line, and Marc Peterson, whose short jumper gave the Eskomos the lead for good, 32-31, early in the second half.

Esko will face Annandale for the championship Saturday at 2 p.m. in a rematch of the 2013 third-place game.  Annandale won that game on a last-second shot, 59-58.

Jim Paulsen