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Derek Smith
The CCHS boys’ basketball team took on the Floodwood Polar Bears last Friday at home and the game was close throughout. The Vikings trailed by one point, 35-36 at the half, but the Polar Bears pulled away to take a 66-57 victory.
Senior guard Derek Smith led the Vikings with 18 points, 11 rebounds, five steals, and five assists. Derek was 9-15 from the field for a 60 percent shooting ratio.
Sophomore guard Denali Blackwell scored 16 points, pulled down ten rebounds, and he had three assists. Denali made four baskets coming from behind the three-point line.
Sophomore guard Rohan Rude finished with ten points, two of them three-pointers. Rohan had five rebounds and six steals.
Junior guard Amos Falter had five points with one basket coming from behind the three-point arc. Amos also had four rebounds and one steal.
Junior guard Ryan Smith scored three points, had seven rebounds, one assist and made three steals.
Binesii Aubid had two points. Sophomore guard Jordan Backstrom finished with two points, two rebounds, four steals, and one assist. Cade Smith saw some action as did John Pierre, who pulled down one rebound. Seqouia Morrin, another sophomore, had one rebound and one assist in ten minutes of varsity action.
Overall, the boys pulled down 46 rebounds and had 12 assists to go along with 19 steals. Denali Blackwell’s threepoint shot was falling but the biggest difference in the game was that Floodwood hit 45 percent of its shots while the Vikings shot 35 percent on the night. Justin Spindler led Floodwood with 26 points, converting 55 percent of his shots from the field.
When asked for comments about the game Viking Head Coach Keaton Riley had this to say, “Both Derek Smith (18 pts, 11 rebounds) and Denali Blackwell (16 pts, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles. Rohan Rude pitched in 10 pts, 7 rebounds. We implemented the first press this program has had in years, and it worked well! Really loved our effort and mentality the entire game. Foul trouble really killed us. We had two kids foul out and it really limited our ability to press. We missed a lot of layups and struggled from the line, if either go our way, we win this game. This is something to build on. Our boys saw the results of their hard work and we want to stay hungry.”
The Vikings are now 0-4 on the year, but each game the young Viking team is improving. The next home game is Friday, January 13 against McGregor. The boys take the floor at 4:45 p.m. while the girls varsity plays at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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