Following a tough early week loss to the Lake View Christian Lions, the 1-1 Vikings traveled to play the Two Harbors Agates on Friday, Dec. 7 to face the Double-A school on its home floor.
Sophomore Jordan Porter, a 6’2” forward, had a breakout game, scoring 28 points to lead the Vikings to an 87-68 win.
Junior guard Ray Gordon poured in 20 points, senior guard Pete Sutton had 14, Will Ramberg 11, Adam Dorr 10, and Daunte Deschampe 4.
“I was proud of the way we bounced back from Monday’s loss,” said head coach Colin Everson.
“After three solid days of practice, we played a good team game and kept our focus against Two Harbors. We showed much more patience on the floor and played with a lot more composure than we did against Lake View Christian. It was great to see some improvement in just three days of practice. It was great to see more patience offensively. We scored 87 points off of only seven 3s and got to the double bonus in both halves.
“The team also came together and developed a few team core values that we want to define us as a team. The team came up with four values: 1) commitment/accountability; 2) competition; 3) brotherhood; 4) teamwork.”
Vikings play Carlton
Once again the Vikings took a road trip. On Monday, Dec. 10 the team traveled to play the Carlton Bulldogs in the ’Dogs cozy gym and prevailed over a tough Carlton team, 68-64.
After seeing a lot of double teams early in the season, senior forward Will Ramberg broke free and led the team in scoring with 24 points, just ahead of junior guard Ray Gordon’s 17-point night.
“We played a close game,” said Coach Everson. “We struggled with foul trouble early. Fell behind for most of the second half and some timely shots down the stretch brought us back. I’m proud of the way we battled throughout the game and never gave up.”
Also scoring points for the Vikings was Pete Sutton, who finished with 13 points and Jordan Porter, who ended his night with 12 points.
Vikings play Thunder Bay club
The following day the club bussed to Thunder Bay to play a Canadian club. The kids in Canada go to high school for one more year than the kids do in the U.S., so it’s always tough to play against older kids at this level.
“It’s always challenging going back-to-back on the road,” noted coach Everson. “This was a solid Canadian team and an excellent opportunity for us. The second half we came alive a little offensively and found a little rhythm. We started working the ball around more and found some open shooters.
“It was great to see us progress from Friday through Tuesday and I am excited to continue to watch this team grow.”
This time it was Pete Sutton’s turn to lead the team in scoring. Pete had 23 points, Will 21, Ray 16, Jordan 13, and Daunte Deschampe added 4 points.
The final score was 77-74.
On Friday, Dec. 14, the team played its first home game against Moose Lake/Willow River, and on Tuesday, December 18 the team will play again at home against the Wrenshall Wrens. Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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