Above: Coming off the bench, Mike Burton gave the Vikings a shot of offense when he hit two straight baskets late in the game against Moose Lake/Willow River. Right: Marcus Logan shows off his nifty ball handling skills in the game against Cromwell, a game in which he scored 11 points.
The Vikings played three home games last week, all losses, and only have one game left against South Ridge on February 19 at South Ridge before heading into the playoffs.
Vikings fall to Rebels
Moose Lake/Willow River used a full court press to start the Friday, February 12 game against the Vikings and jumped out to an 11-2 lead as their pressure defense caused one turnover after another.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr called a timeout three minutes into the game to settle his club down, but the Vikings never did get untracked and trailed 43-16 at the half.
Coach Dorr started three freshmen, one sophomore and one senior in the second half and continued to use all of his players off the bench the entire second period to try to find a spark, but the Vikings fell 67-28.
One player missing from action was freshman starter Dyami Blackwell who was hurt in warm-ups before the start of the game.
“He came down wrong and had a fluke injury,” said Coach Dorr. “Dyami fractured his tibia. He is out for the season.”
As badly as the Vikings were beaten, it wasn’t all attributable to the Rebels’ defense. The Vikings had many good looks at the basket but couldn’t get their shots to fall, often times the ball rimmed out on a five-to-10-foot shot.
“We definitely looked lifeless out there. I’m not sure if Dyami’s injury was the cause or what…but we didn’t have very much energy on the court,” said Coach Dorr.
Rory Bakke led Viking scorers with 7 points. Leif Anderson tallied 5 points and 6 rebounds. Lucas Phillips netted 4, Mike Burton 4, Jerod Spry 3, Trusen Gordon 3, and Sam O’Phelan had 2 points and pulled down 7 rebounds.
Vikings face talented Thunder Bay team
The Vikings played a much better game the next day at home when they faced a talented Thunder Bay squad.
“I thought we played very, very well against an excellent basketball team,” said Coach Dorr. “We were down 2-11 after three minutes of play and then started competing and went into half down 33-16. We lost 6-35, but I thought we showed a lot more energy. Rory Bakke and Jerod Spry were all over the place as our two seniors really led. They combined for 20 points and 16 rebounds.”
No matter the season, Cook County High School sports teams can count on two fans, Steve and Robin DuChien, to always be there to cheer them on. CCHS Athletic Director Pam Taylor presented Steve and Robin with a variety of gift certificates and other presents at the Cromwell Basketball game for being selected the 2016 Vikings Fans of the Year.
Once again Bakke led the team with 12 points and 8 rebounds. O’Phelan finished with 9 points while Spry tallied 8 points and 8 rebounds. Anderson, Marcus Logan and Will Ramberg each scored two points to end the scoring for the Vikings.
Cromwell takes rematch
Just before Christmas the Vikings traveled to Cromwell and took a 40-38 win, but in this week’s game, Cromwell jumped to an 11-point half time lead and maintained a 10-15 point advantage throughout the game, winning 58-49.
Turnovers hurt the Vikings and the team was out-rebounded, especially on the defensive side where Cromwell got second and sometimes third shots to score in the paint.
Still, the Vikings made it exciting near the end when Bakke hit back-to-back 2-point shots followed by 3-point baskets from Spry, Gordon and Marcus Logan to keep the Vikings within reach.
Cromwell, however, managed to hit their foul shots and weather the Vikings’ strong comeback attempt.
“I thought we played the last 5 to 6 minutes with a lot of passion,” said Dorr. “We need to play our entire game with passion…We work hard, but there is something missing. We need more passion on the floor.”
Marcus Logan and Bakke led the Vikings in scoring with 11 points. O’Phelan finished with 10, Spry 7, Anderson 4, Phillips 3, and Gordon’s 3 points ended the Vikings scoring.
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