Above: With senior guard Breana Peterson out with illness, sophomore guard Shauna Blake (3) stepped in and did a good job of handling the ball against the tough Barnum Bombers. Left: Junior forward Liz O’Phelan missed on this shot, but Liz grabbed a fistful of rebounds against Barnum and played tough defense.
The Barnum Bombers were too quick and too experienced for the young Cook County Vikings when they met in Grand Marais on Friday night, January 10. Despite playing hard, the Vikings fell behind early and lost 53-27.
The Bombers are 10-1 on the season while the Vikings are 1-5. The Vikings have several games to make up because of bad weather and weren’t in action for the past three weeks.
Once again sophomore forward/guard Lily Gruber Schulz had a great game and led the Vikings with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 4 steals. Essance Haines had 5 points, Suzy Burton 4, Jamie Sjogren 2, and Shauna Blake 1 point.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr said his players worked hard, but added, “We just have a long-term goal of improving every player’s offensive skills. That will start in the weight room and a whoEle lot of shooting.”
Vikings lose to Cherry
Death by a thousand paper cuts. That was Cherry’s patient, pass first offense. Pass, pass, pass, then pass one more time until they found the open girl underneath for an easy two points. All night long, finishing the night 56-35.
Most of Cherry’s shots were from two feet or less from the hoop. Not that the girls from Cook County weren’t playing hard, but in a year when the conference is loaded with talented teams, Cook County is in a rebuilding year, and loyal Vikings fans have to like the effort and the skills that are being built in front of them as they cheer on their team.
The Vikings stayed with Cherry for the first eight minutes of the ball game played at home on Monday night, January 13, but trailing by a point, 10-11, Cherry slowly worked its pass-around-the-perimeter offense to perfection, steadily pulling away from the Vikings.
The Vikings were without their two starting guards, Essance Haines and Breana Peterson. That meant that Coach Dorr had to take Lily Gruber-Schulz from her forward spot and make her the point guard. Gruber-Schulz did yeoman’s work throughout the game, taking the ball up the court and then trying to pass, shoot, and still trying to get the rebound. Suzy Burton found her shot late in the game and ended with 6 points. Suzy also pulled down some nice rebounds. Lily ended her night with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Trace McQuatters had 6 points and Shauna Blake 2 points, and Emily Jacobsen ended with 1 point.
“Even with two starters out I thought we played poorly against Cherry. We had some effort issues in the first half, but then rebounded and played better in the second half,” said Coach Dorr.
“I was really happy with the play of Sarah Toftey. She is a young guard who continues to get better each game. We will continue to look for players on the bench that can play aggressively each time they step onto the floor,” Dorr said.
The Vikings’ next home game is Saturday, January 18 against Ely at 3 p.m. Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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