Colin Everson hit three 3-point shots in the Vikings narrow loss to unbeaten Lakeview Christian Academy last Friday. Everson played an outstanding game on defense as well as offense on the night.
Viking fans have witnessed some great girls’ and boys’ basketball games this winter, but none that topped the boys’ game played at home against Lakeview Christian Academy Lions on Friday, Jan. 14.
The Lions have perhaps the best boys’ player in the area in Sophomore Anders Borman. He and his brother, eighthgrader Bjorn Borman, along with Luke Borchardt, have led the Lions to a perfect record this year. Anders is pretty much an unstoppable scoring machine and he proved that against a rapidly improving Viking team whose 5-4 record belies their talent.
Anders Borman started his team out with six points coming off a quick baseline move the Vikings were unable to defend until a timeout by Head Coach Mitch Dorr. Once the Vikings took that away from the oldest Borman, the teams started trading baskets and the play became even.
The Vikings trailed 40-39 at the half, with the Vikings all taking turns scoring the basket and doing their best to contain Anders.
After trading leads throughout the second half, the Vikings grabbed the lead with less than four minutes to play. The last couple of minutes though, they couldn’t stop the eldest Borman, who took the game over with his slashing cuts to the basket, leading his team to a 74-70 win.
What haunted the Vikings throughout the night were turnovers. The Vikings lost the ball 17 times while the Lions turned the ball over 7 times.
“It was a great game with a painful ending,” said Coach Dorr. “I really thought our guys played well, and I thought they showed composure and mental toughness throughout the game.”
Dorr lauded the play of senior Ryan Martinson. “He had 13 rebounds to go with his 18 points and played really well defensively.
“Colin Everson also had a good night with his shot selection and it showed, as he added 13 points, including three key 3-pointers to keep the defense honest. Martinson and Bergstrom both had 6 assists,” said Dorr.
Other Vikings posting points were Dylan Quaife with 14, Bergstrom with 13, Kale Boomer with 4 and Will Petty with 2 points.
Lion Anders Borman led all scores with 35 points.
Although the Vikings lost, they showed they could play pretty much on par with the best teams in the section. After the game, Dorr said as much, “We need to work on how we play in the final two to three minutes of a close game. Who do we want to take the big shots? And how to make extra passes. Overall, I was very proud of our effort. Now we just need to continue hard on improving.”
The Vikings played Friday night, Jan. 21 against Floodwood at home. The following night they traveled to Ely to face the Timberwolves and they play at home on Thursday, Jan. 27 against Babbitt-Embarrass at 6:30 p.m. Go Vikes!
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