Jordon Porter
Basketball fans were treated to some great plays, tremendous shooting, and an excellent win for the Vikings last Thursday night, Feb. 21, in their home game against Mountain Iron- Buhl (MIB).
Both teams came out shooting red-hot from the 3-point line, and it was apparent a high-scoring game was in the works.
It was also parent’s night, and there was a big game at halftime with the K-3 boys taking the court, which really set the Pam Taylor gym rocking.
In the meantime, during the first couple of minutes of varsity play, Adam Dorr hit a three, Pete Sutton made two longrange threes, and Jordan Porter made one from deep downtown.
Meanwhile, MIB matched the Vikings longrange prowess as the two teams scored often and fast. The strategy for both sides was simple: sink a three or attack the basket. It worked well for both squads.
Early in the game Ray Gordon got two quick fouls and was benched, which took one of the team’s top scorers away. Caide Northrup, who started, came back in and played great ball. He was tough on defense and didn’t make any turnovers as he distributed the ball to his hot shooting teammates.
Just before half the Vikings’ leading scorer Will Ramberg, who had been quiet on offense, nailed two long threes and the Vikings went into the locker room trailing by one point, 37-36.
If the Vikings were shooting hot in the first period of play, they were hotter in the second period.
Heating up faster than popcorn butter in a microwave, Ray Gordon scored 10 points on drives and one long three to open the second half. Adam Dorr added a two-point basket and a three-point basket in-between Gordon’s scoring outburst as the Vikings raced to a 51-44 lead.
MIB countered with a run of their own, whittling the Vikings’ lead to three points, 52-49 before the Vikings went off on another long scoring tear, scorching the net, and putting the game far out of MIB’s reach.
During that stretch the Vikings’ defense tightened, MIB started missing their long shots, and the Vikings seemingly scored at will. At one juncture Pete Sutton made two free throws then nailed three more 3s in a row.
As for the Vikings do-everything player, Will Ramberg, he started to get to the basket where he was either fouled or made a lay-up. Jordan Porter played shut-down defense and rebounded well, scoring here and there, as did Adam Dorr.
The Vikings outscored MIB 52-22 in the second half to win 88-59 in what might have been the team’s best all-around game of the season. It comes at a good time because playoffs are right around the corner.
When the dust had settled head coach Colin Everson said, “It was a great game, and I would agree the best complete game we have played. It was nice to see a lot of the things we work on in practice continue to improve on the court.
“We stepped it up on the defense and on the boards and made a few adjustments that helped us in the second half. It was also great to see the players get excited for each other and really play as a team.”
Pete Sutton led the team in scoring with 27 points. Will Ramberg finished with 25, Ray Gordon 16, Adam Dorr 12, Jordan Porter 7 and Keegan Morrison, shooting from long range as the buzzer sounded, hit nothing but net to score 3 points as the crowd erupted in cheers.
Boys beat Nashwauk Keewatin
Despite not playing their best ball, the next day the Vikings traveled to Nashwauk-Keewatin and won 68-62.
Both Will Ramberg and Ray Gordon led the team in scoring with 18 points each, with Pete Sutton cashing in 16, Jordan Porter 11, and Adam Dorr 6 to lead the Vikings to victory over a skilled Nashwauk team.
Following the win head coach Colin Everson commented on the last two games.
“This was a great pair of games for us. We put a lot of things we practiced into practice on the defensive end and rebounding. We brought energy in each game that we haven’t had most of the year.
“Friday versus Nashwauk we played a tough game against a good team. We were trailing with around 5 minutes to go in the game.
“We were able to rally behind some big shots with some big time stops down the stretch. We will have to wait until the end of the week to find out who we play but we should have a home playoff game on March 6th.”
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