Left: Molly Zafft gets ready for a jump ball against her taller opponent. Zafft won the jump ball and the Vikings won the game against Silver Bay 91-20. Above: This is what a typical CCHS girls’ fast break looks like. In this stanza, Brea Boomer grabbed a rebound against Silver Bay and immediately passed it to a streaking Ailee Larson who dribbled it in for a lay-up. Note that all of the Viking girls are on a dead run down the court. If Larson were to miss the basket, another Viking (or more) is usually there to put in the rebound.
The Cook County girls’ basketball team hit the road last week, playing Albrook on Jan. 6 and Carlton on Jan. 7, winning both games in convincing fashion. They faced the Silver Bay Mariners on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at home and won that game in convincing fashion.
On Thursday, Jan. 6 the Vikings faced Albrook for the second time this season. They defeated the Falcons 69-31 at home on Dec. 7.
According to Head Coach TJ Super, “We were ahead 19-9 with 9:30 to go in the first half and were ahead 47-9 with 9:18 to go in the game before they finally scored.”
Leading the way for the Vikes was Brea Boomer. “Boomer led us on the glass and in scoring. She was a beast rebounding, adding 17 to her season total and she scored 24 points, 17 in the first half,” said Super.
One of the keys to the victory was the team play following halftime. “The girls came out of the halftime with a renewed energy and, after scoring only four fast break points in the first half, scored 14 of their first 17 points on the fast break. Ashley Deschampe chipped in 16 and Ailee Larson added 9 points but Ailee really pushed the tempo like we know she can,” Super said.
Despite winning 57-21, Super said neither he nor the girls were entirely happy with the way they played. “Neither I nor the girls were completely satisfied about the hustle of the team. We especially were disappointed that we weren’t able to convert more steals and deflections into points.”
Vikes beat Carlton 61-39
If the Vikes weren’t entirely happy with their play against Albrook on Thursday night, they felt even worse the next night against Carlton
According to Coach Super, the Vikings didn’t play at all well against Carlton. Not well at all. They were feeble on defense and nothing short of awful on offense, which makes one wonder just how bad the score could have been if they played up to snuff.
“The game in Carlton was pretty ugly. We didn’t press well, we passed terribly, and we didn’t shoot well and we were up 42-15 at halftime,” said Super.
“It’s a little frustrating when the girls aren’t happy with their own play, yet they aren’t getting a competitive game to really bring out the fire to make them play harder. One girl who really played hard was Molly Zafft. She hustled all over the court and got her hands on many balls on defense,” said Super.
Ashley Deschampe led the Vikings in scoring with 19 points. “Ashley got us going offensively, with good passing and good shots,” Super said.
Other Vikings’ scores included Brea Boomer who hit for 13, Ailee Larson who scored 8, Theresa Morrin who chipped in 7, and Taylor Ryden and Molly Zafft who each netted 6 points.
Carlton outscored the Vikings 24-19 in the second half, but the final score of 61-39 was more than enough to ensure a lop-sided victory.
Clarris Nelson led the Bulldogs with 12 points.
Vikings sink Mariners 91-20
With 10 minutes of play finished and the Vikings holding a 16-8 lead over Silver Bay, it looked like it was going to be a good game last Tuesday night, Jan. 11.
But then the Vikings revved up their half-court defense and raced away from their nearby rivals, outscoring the Mariners 36-4 over the next 10 minutes of play. And almost all of those baskets came off of lay-ups generated from steals.
The first half saw Ashley Deschampe scoring 15 points, followed by Ailee Larson with 14 and Brea Boomer with 13 points.
Head Coach Super started the second half by rotating young bench players into the mix of starters and had his kids playing a soft zone. It gave the Mariners a little spark—at one point they scored 6 straight points—but that was it for the young, inexperienced Silver Bay team that played hard, but needs a few years to gel.
“Molly Zafft took charge when she was out there and was aggressive in attacking the basket. Breana Peterson did a great job of handling the ball and had five assists, while Kaitlynn Linnell played tough inside to score 12 points. In general, the young girls played with good intensity,” Super said.
For the game Deschampe led all scorers with 20 points: Boomer hit for 17, Larson added 16, Linnell chipped in 12, Zafft netted 10, Bekah Laky scored 6, Theresa Morrin 4, Jessica Berg-Collman 4, and Breana Peterson 2.
The Vikings are 8-1 on the season and 4-1 in the conference. They face Mesabi East at Mesabi on Thursday, Jan. 13, then travel to Cromwell on the 18th before coming home to play Floodwood at 6 p.m. on Jan 20. Circle that Thursday on your calendars because that could be the match-up of the year. Both teams are loaded with talent and are fierce rivals on the court. Come out and cheer for the Vikes!
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