Rhonnie Poyirier split the defense on her way to two points. Photo courtesy of Bruce Johnson
The Cook County girls’ basketball team played three games in four days, with two of the games coming right down to the wire.
Vikings face Floodwood
Real Polar Bears are classified as marine mammals because they spend most of their lives living on the Arctic Ocean sea ice. While real Polar Bears aren’t much into basketball, they are noted for being large and ferocious, especially to a ringed or bearded seal, their favorite meal.
The Polar Bears the Cook County Vikings faced last Friday night in the Pam Taylor gymnasium weren’t large and ferocious, but at least for a while, the Vikings had the look in their eyes of a ringed or bearded seal.
Down 17-8 with ten minutes gone off the game clock, Viking head coach Kelly Hawsen had seen enough of Floodwood getting easy baskets and called a timeout. A fired up group of Vikings came out of the time-out and clamped down on their interior defense, stopping Floodwood from gaining easy access to the basket. Pretty soon the score was 17-17 and although the Vikings trailed 20-17 at the half, this had truly turned into a competitive game of basketball.
Paisley Smith made a two-point basket to start the second half before Floodwood made backto back lay-ups, one off of a steal. Katie Peck followed with a long three and Alyssa Spry took a hard charge to give the ball back to the Vikings. Katie made another three to make it 25-26. Floodwood would score two points before Spry came back with a layup.
Still, the Polar Bears put on a charge and took a seven-point lead with five minutes to play. Instead of panicking, the Vikings’ Rhonnie Poririer made a two, Spry nailed a long three, and Ariana Poyirier made a two point basket to tie the score 35-35.
On the next play, Ariana stole the ball and converted a lay-up to give the Vikings its first lead. The Vikings’ defense held again and Abbie Crawford was fouled with 11 seconds left to play. Abbie made one free throw and the Vikings lead was three.
The Vikings made another great defensive stop and Crawford was put on the line with four seconds left on the game clock. She missed her one-in-one, but Ariana tipped the ball away from a Floodwood player as the game clock went to zero, with the Vikings taking the 38-35 win.
Alyssa Spry led the team with 12 points. Alyssa was tremendous on defense, made a lot of great assists and pulled down a half dozen rebounds in the game.
Ariana Poyirier finished with 10 points, Paisley Smith had six, Katie Peck six, Rhonnie Poyirier three, and Crawford, who was dogged all night, ended with one point.
Leading scorers for Floodwood were Heather Striowski, who netted 12, and Tamera Lundstrom, who finished with 12 points.
Vikings lose heartbreaker to Ely
The next day the Vikings faced Ely in an afternoon game in the Pam Taylor gymnasium. After the first half, the Vikings led 27-19, but the team wore down and Ely took a one-point win, 50-49.
Ariana Poyirier led the team with 18 points. Abbie Crawford finished with 16, Paisley Smith 6, Alyssa Spry 4, Rhonnie Poyirier 4, and Katie Peck 1.
Erika Mattson scored 18 points to lead her Timberwolf team, and Brielle Kallberg had 16.
Ely is now 5-0 in the conference.
Vikings play Silver Bay
The Silver Bay Mariners traveled up the shore to play the Vikings on Tuesday, January 14, and the Vikings took a 56-20 win. With the victory the Vikings now sport a 3-1 conference record and are 3-4 overall.
Unfortunately, no stats were available for this write-up. But so far Abbie Crawford leads the team in scoring with an 11.8 point per game average. Ariana Poyirier is averaging 8.9 points per game and her younger sister, Rhonnie, is averaging 6.3 points per game.
The Vikings travel to Carlton on Friday, January 17, and then play at home on Tuesday, January 21, against Mesabi East. The game will start at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
Leave a Reply