Cook County ran into a talented Walker-Hackensack-Ackley basketball team loaded with upperclassmen in the two-day Ely holiday boys’ basketball tournament and, although the Vikings gave it their all, they fell 73-48.
The Vikings trailed 36-24 at the half in the contest that was played on Thursday, Dec. 28.
“We lost to a good Walker team,” said head coach Mitch Dorr. “They took us out of our offense,” he added.
Once again junior forward Will Ramberg led the Vikings in scoring with 21 points.
Sophomore guard Pete Sutton connected for 15 points, sophomore forward Jordan Porter had eight points and freshman guard Cade Northrup contributed two points as did junior forward Dyami Blackwell.
Cole Nelson from Walker/Ackley led his team with 18 points.
Vikings defeat the Upsala Cardinals
On Friday, Dec. 30 the Vikings squared off against a tough squad from Upsala and fell behind early.
“The guys found themselves down by 11 at the half, but our young guys dug in and played a solid second half, outscoring Upsala 39-20 in the second half behind strong defense,” coach Dorr said.
Leading the Vikings to the 63-55 win was junior forward Will Ramberg who recorded a team-high 19 points and pulled down a team-leading 15 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Pete Sutton scored 16 points, 12 of those coming off of three-point shots.
Junior forward Dyami Blackwell netted 12 points in his return to the hardwood.
“I was really happy with our guys’ effort,” said coach Dorr. “It was also really nice to have Dyami Blackwell back on the court as he was recovering from an injury.”
Freshman guard Caide Northrup came up big for the Vikings, netting eight points.
Coach Dorr also cited the play of sophomore forward Jordan Porter, who had seven points and seven rebounds in the game, and his son, sophomore guard Adam Dorr who had seven assists in the contest.
Alex Thieschafer led Upsala with 17 points.
The Vikings are now 4-3 as they head into 2018.
Next up for the Vikings are the Two Harbors Agates who come to Grand Marais on Friday, Jan. 5. The Vikings beat the Agates earlier in the year, but it was a close contest. The game starts at 4:45 p.m.
On Saturday, Jan. 13 the Vikings face Ely at home at 3 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
Viking boys putting up some nice statistics
After several seasons of teams that had trouble scoring more than 45 to 50 points in any game, the 2017-2018 Vikings have found some offensive firepower this year. The team has scored more than 80 points once and three times recorded more than 60 points in a game.
After seven games, Will Ramberg, a 6’3” junior forward is leading the team with an average of 21.1 points per game. Ramberg also wins the “Windex” award. He has cleaned the glass 97 times, pulling down 70 defensive boards and recording 27 offensive rebounds to average 14 rebounds per game.
Two sophomores, 6’2” center Jordan Porter and Pete Sutton, a 5’10” forward, are averaging 15 points and 14.9 points per game.
One of the advantages the Vikings have had this year is their ability to make three-point shots. Sutton has 18 on the year and averages 43.9 percent, a high percentage of makes from behind the three-point line. Cade Northrup has nine three-pointers and Ramberg four.
Recently back from injury, 6’2” junior forward Dyami Blackwell is putting in 7.3 points per game and 5’9” freshman guard Cade Northrup is contributing 6.3 points per game.
Sophomore guard Adam Dorr, 5’10”, leads the team in assists with 6.1 per game. For the season Dorr has 36 assists, more than double any other Viking.
Both Jordan Porter, at 237 minutes, and Adam Dorr with 227 minutes, lead their teammates in minutes played.
To date, the season record is four wins and three losses.
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