Left: As Jonny Jacobsen, No. 40, set a pick, Colin Everson ducked down and stepped around Moose Lake’s 6’5” center and scored a layup. Despite what looked to be an off night shooting the ball, Everson still managed 20 points to lead the team in scoring. Above: Peter Warren went up high to shoot and score 2 points over the outstretched arms of his Moose Lake defender.
It was a tough weekend of basketball for the Viking boys’ basketball team as they dropped a hard-fought contest 57-47 to the Polar League’s first place team, the Moose Lake/ Willow River Warriors, at home on Friday, January 18, and then the next day traveled to Ely to face the 10-1 Lumberjacks and lost 47-31.
Against Moose Lake the Vikings fell behind 9-0 in the first two minutes of play and never could catch up, although they came within 5 points at one point.
The Lakers had three players who were 6’5”, and used that size advantage throughout the night.
“Moose Lake hurt us on the boards as they had 10 offensive rebounds that led to 18 of their 57 points,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr after the game.
Although the Vikings defense was superb throughout, they had trouble converting open looks into baskets. Justin Goldstein had numerous 3-point shots that narrowly missed and Kale Boomer missed on a couple of short shots that usually fall for him. Still, the Vikings were in contention until the final minute of play.
“I was really proud of our team effort as we just kept fighting,” said Dorr.
Super scorer Colin Everson once again led the Vikings with 20 points. Kale Boomer followed with 12 points and despite playing on a sprained ankle, Lars Scannell contributed 7 points.
Ely 47-31
The Vikings held Ely to almost half of its 87 point per game average, but couldn’t score enough points of its own to come away with the victory.
“We played a great first half, down 19-25 by dictating a slow pace and playing great team defense, “ said Dorr.
But back-to-back games seemed to take the wind out of the Vikings’ sails.
“We just ran out of gas on the offensive side of the court, scoring only 12 points in the final 18 minutes,” Dorr said.
As he has done so often this season, Colin Everson led the Vikings in scoring with 15 points. In a game where points were hard to come by, the Vikings’ next highest scorer was Justin Goldstein who had 6 points. Kale Boomer led the team in rebounds with 12 boards for the night.
Boomer, a guard, currently ranks second in the Polar League in rebounding with an almost 10 boards per game average. Everson ranks second in scoring with a 22.4 point per game average, and both players rank in the top 10 in field goal percentage and assists. Colin is fourth in steals with 3.3 steals per game and he and Justin Goldstein are 4th and 8th in 3-point shooting in the conference.
The boys are 7-4 on the year and are ranked 5th in the Polar League.
The Vikings played the Northeast Range Nighthawks at home on Thursday, January 24, then traveled to Carlton the next day to play Carlton. They face the Silver Bay Mariners at home on January 28. Game time starts at 4:45 p.m.
Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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