Above: Call him “Instant Offense,” Lars Scannell jumpstarted the Vikings’ offense in the first few minutes of the game against Cromwell by scoring 6 points on three quick baskets. Scannell also had back-to-back steals in that series. Right: In his first game of the season, Jonny Jacobsen gave the Vikings some much-needed size in the middle against Cromwell. Jacobsen has spent the early part of the season recovering from knee surgery from an injury suffered during the football season. Far right: Looking like he’s just been told he had to go to prom with his mom, Colin Everson exploded for 23 points against Cromwell, most of those coming in the second half of play.
Senior forward Justin Goldstein hit a nice 3-point shot to give the Vikings an early 3-0 lead against the Cromwell Cardinals on Friday, January 4, in a game that saw junior center/forward Jonny Jacobsen play for the first time this season following surgery and recovery for a knee injury suffered during the football season.
The Cardinals took their only lead of the night on the next two offensive series and then Lars Scannell went to work, scoring 3 of the next 5 Viking baskets. Twice Lars stole the ball and went in for baskets during that stretch. With Kale Boomer and Jonny Jacobsen each hitting buckets in that run the Vikings led 16-8 and went into the locker room up 36-28.
During that first half Goldstein hit two more 3-point shots while senior guard Colin Everson had a tough time getting open. Still, it was just a matter of time before Everson’s shots started to fall, and the Vikings’ defense was solid enough to keep Cromwell at bay.
While the Vikings’ perimeter defense shut down the long shot, Cardinal players got free for about 10 backdoor layups during the game. This is one area that Jacobsen’s defense should help the team as he gets integrated back into the system.
“It’s good to have Jonny back. I think we will gradually improve as he gets in better shape,” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr after the game.
Dorr also received a technical late in the game when Cromwell went to its full court press and started playing a very aggressive, physical defense, often times pushing and hitting Viking ball handlers Boomer and Everson as they dribbled down the court. Dorr was flagged for a technical when he asked a referee to call an obvious foul in front of the Viking bench. The call didn’t help Cromwell, however, and the chippy play ended as the refs started calling more fouls.
For the game Kale Boomer just missed a triple double as he scored 11 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and had 9 assists. Berglund ended up scoring 23 points, not far off his 22-point average, and Goldstein ended with 15 points.
Dorr also lauded the play of Scannell and freshman guard Rory Bakke.
“I thought Lars gave a great lift offensively in the first half and then I thought Rory Bakke played an extremely good second half. We will need both of them to continue to improve and contribute,” Dorr said.
Some of the team’s usual energy was missing from the game, and Dorr attributed that to the holiday break.
“We are improving as a team and I was happy with our performance considering that we had only practiced four times since our last game and many of these practices had guys missing over break. We were out of shape and it showed, but our guys fought through it,” Dorr said.
The Vikings’ record is now 6-2. The kids go on the road for their next two games before coming home on January 18 to play Moose Lake/ Willow River.
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