The Cook County Vikings had no trouble trouncing the Silver Bay Mariners 46-15 on the Mariners’ home court on Tuesday, December 3.
It was the first game of the season for both teams.
Lily Gruber-Schulz led all Viking scorers with 16 points. Emily Jacobsen who netted 8, Molly Thomas 6, Sophie Eliasen 5, Sarah Toftey 4, Jami Sjogren 3, and Shauna Blake 2, followed her.
The Vikings came out strong and forced the Mariners into a variety of turnovers with their stifling defense.
“Primarily we played a tough half court man-to-man defense,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr. “We also played a 2-2-1 full court zone press at times as well.”
On offense the Vikings were patient and looked for open shots.
“They played a 2-3 zone against us, so we just ran our zone offense which consists of ball movement on the perimeter while looking inside our post players in Emily Jacobsen and Jami Sjogren,” Dorr said.
While Dorr was pleased with the effort on the floor, he knows his young team can improve. “Our young guard stood out with their speed and quickness. Sophie Eliasen, Maya McHugh, Sarah Toftey, and Molly Thomas all looked very good for the first game of the year. Lily has a solid game for us and we will look for her to be a consistent contributor on offense,” he said.
Speaking of those guards, Eliasen is an eighth-grader, McHugh a ninthgrader, and Thomas and Toftey are both sophomores. The Vikings’ front line isn’t exactly ancient either: Emily Jacobsen is a sophomore, Lily Gruber-Schulz is a junior, Shauna Blake is a junior and only Jami Sjogren is a senior.
The Vikings also have a bevy of young athletic girls who can push the starters for playing time. It will be a trial by fire early on, but as this team gets more playing time, their basketball skills should improve to match their athleticism, and then watch out. The Vikings will be a fun, exciting team to watch.
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