Showing excellent free throw shooting form, Pete Sutton releases the ball, which swished through the net for one of the 26 points he scored against Cromwell. Despite playing hard, the Vikings fell to the Cromwell Cardinals in a home game played Monday, December 16. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
The Cook County boys’ team gave up a lot of back-door lay-ups this past Monday night, which allowed a cold-shooting Cromwell team to take a 60-42 victory over the Vikings.
The game was played in the Pam Taylor gymnasium in Grand Marais on December 16.
It wasn’t like the Vikings didn’t have their share of good looks for easy baskets, but other than Pete Sutton, baskets were hard to come by, as most of the players weren’t finding the range on many of their shots.
To be fair, the Vikings were playing with three bench players. Several players were out of uniform for various reasons. This would have been an entirely different game with a full line-up, and the team should be getting players back before league play gets into full swing in early January.
Cromwell didn’t have anyone who was hitting from long range or even mid-range, but it didn’t matter. The Cardinals would pass the ball around the three-point perimeter, pulling Vikings who were playing man-to-man defense far from the basket. The Cardinal guards would patiently wait until one of their players got free underneath for an uncontested lay-up. If the Cardinal players couldn’t hit a 15-foot jump shot, they certainly were adept at making lay-ups.
Pete Sutton, a senior guard, showed his athleticism early in the second half when he went high above the rim to catch a rebound and then tried to slam the ball through the net. Unfortunately the ball careened off the back of the rim and caromed far down the court. Still, it was an exciting play.
For the night Sutton led all Viking scorers with 26 points. Keegan Morrison ended his night with six points, Adam Dorr had five, Jordan Porter three, and Austin Lincoln had two points.
When asked why he didn’t switch his players into zone defense, Viking head coach Colin Everson said, “Yeah, we have been working on a zone some, it will be a good tool for us in the future. We have a lot of things to clean up but we showed a lot of improvement from game 1 to game 2. The message this year is our season is a journey. Each game is another chapter and we are working to improve each day to be where we want in March and playing our best basketball.”
The Vikings’ next game is Dec. 20 at Moose Lake/ Willow River. They will play in the Ely Christmas tournament right after Christmas and then play at home on Jan. 3 against South Ridge. That game will start at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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