Perham Yellowjackets fall to DGF, seeding and Heart of Lakes title unsettled

Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton rallied past Perham 65-58 in Glyndon on Saturday, Feb. 21, a result that denied the Yellowjackets the Heart O Lakes Conference crown and gave DGF the No. 1 seed in Section 8AA. The loss left Perham 21-4 and reshuffled the conference finish with immediate playoff consequences.

Perham Focus reported that DGF outscored Perham 32-33 across the halves and that, as the game tightened late, “A run by DGF forced Perham to play catch-up for the rest of the second half.” Perham pulled within a point late, but the Rebels closed the game with a 6-0 run that Perham Focus said “iced the game,” leaving the Yellowjackets short of their first Heart O Lakes title in two seasons.

Individual scoring keyed Perham’s bid. Senior Kaia Anderson led the Yellowjackets with 21 points; Perham Focus detailed that “Anderson made six two-point field goals, two threes and shot 3-4 from the free throw line.” Regan Hemberger added 18 points, with Perham Focus noting “Regan Hemberger’s hot shooting continued as she scored 18 points, leading the team with six three-pointers.” The Perham boxscore line in the story listed Gjerde with 11 points and Nelson 4, Draeger 2 and Kunza 2.

Perham Focus outlined the bracket consequences: Perham received the No. 2 seed in Section 8AA and a first-round bye and “will host the winner of No. 7 Wadena-Deer Creek or No. 10 Barnesville on Saturday, Feb. 28, in the quarterfinals.” The program also plans to honor lone senior Kaia Anderson before the boys game on Tuesday, Feb. 24, after Perham’s final scheduled home game was cancelled.

A discrepancy appears in the Perham Focus game text: the story’s narrative says Gjerde “scored three field goals from inside the arc and went 6-8 from the free-throw line,” while the boxscore line lists Gjerde at 11 points. Three two-point field goals plus six made free throws would total 12 points, so the reported totals are internally inconsistent; the official game boxscore from Perham Athletics or the Section should be consulted to reconcile Gjerde’s final figure.

Separately, InForum coverage of a different contest noted DGF’s football team also closed a regular season at Glyndon with a 27-7 win over Perham on a Wednesday night. InForum recorded DGF totaling 458 yards, including 338 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, with Brody Friend breaking a 70-yard rush and Casey Macziewski a 41-yard touchdown. InForum quoted Friend saying, “We started pretty slow in the first half. They came to play. It was kind of a little wake up call for us,” and coach Soderberg adding, “We want to try to avoid those. But we were able to overcome it. Flags are gonna fly.”

Perham now moves into Section 8AA quarterfinal play on Feb. 28 as the No. 2 seed, with the immediate objective of beating the Wadena-Deer Creek or Barnesville winner and keeping its season alive after the narrow loss that decided the Heart O Lakes finish.