Left: The Vikings will miss senior guard Ryan Martinson (3) next year. Not only is Ryan a talented player, but he’s also a great kid with a big heart for his teammates and the kids in school. Above: Junior forward Dylan Quaife (10) had a great season in all phases of the game. He could be counted on for his tough inside play, solid defense, great rebounding and scoring. He returns next season with sophomore guards Kale Boomer and Colin Everson and junior guard David Bergstrom. This nucleus bodes well for the Vikings next season. Go Vikings!
With senior guard Ryan Martinson watching from the bench, the Cook County Vikings boys’ team still took care of business and beat Floodwood 54-40 on Thursday, March 10 in Duluth in their first game of Section 7A payoffs.
Martinson, a 6’4” senior guard, had sprained his ankle playing basketball in gym class a couple of days earlier.
Dylan Quaife had his best game of the season, scoring 22 points. David Bergstrom once again played a great allaround game, scoring 17 points and taking Floodwood’s top scorer out of the game with his defense. Kale Boomer also had a good game distributing the ball to his teammates and scoring 6 points on the night. Will Petty and Mike Sjogren each had 2 points and Colin Everson netted 5 points.
Zach Heggedahl led all scorers with 25 points, but no other Floodwood player reached double figures.
The Vikings led 26-21 at halftime and extended their lead through the second half. Both teams were in the middle of the Polar League standings.
Facing Fond du Lac
Coming into the Vikings match-up against Fond du Lac on Saturday, March 12, the boys knew that they had their work cut out for them. The North Subsection No. 2 ranked Vikings were favored over Fond du Lac, the South Subsection No. 6 team whose overall record was 14-14. However, Fond du Lac has some outstanding players, most notably Travis and Kello Brown, so the boys knew it was going to be a tough game.
Early on the Ogichida team used their athleticism and aggressive defense to take a commanding lead. After a timeout by Head Coach Mitch Dorr, the Vikings slowed the game down and started taking care of the ball. Before long the Vikings inched their way back and were down 26-17 at halftime.
But the Vikings weren’t done. Using great discipline, fine ball control and taking good shots, the Vikings fought their way to within one point with less than three minutes to play. That’s when Fond du Lac’s Trevor Brown hit the biggest shot of the game when he drained a 3-pointer to put his team up by 4 points. The Vikings were never able to get closer and lost by 5 points, 42-37.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win and that’s all you can ask for. We just didn’t make the shots in the final three minutes,” Dorr said.
“I was really proud of the way we played,” said Dorr. “We had a game plan to slow the pace, make great passes, and play defense. We did that pretty well. I was proud of our guys.
Fond du Lac’s height was a worry, but Dorr noted, “We competed on the boards against a superior athletic team and out rebounded them 27-26. We turned the ball over 20 times, but so did they.”
The difference came at the free throw line. “We were 3-13 with six of those misses coming from the front end of a one-onone situation,” said Dorr.
Dorr praised senior guard Ryan Martinson who played injured. “I was really proud of Ryan Martinson as he played on a bum ankle for the entire game,” adding, “David Bergstrom added 8 rebounds and 9 steals and showed a packed house why he is one of the best players in the area.
“I thought Kale Boomer was fantastic at the point guard as he had pressure on him all game and handled it great.
“It is always tough to see the season come to an end. This was a special group of guys and I am very proud of them,” Dorr said.
Back from an ankle injury, senior guard Ryan Martinson led all Viking scorers with 12 points. David Bergstrom hit for 10 points and was followed by Dylan Quaife and Colin Everson who added 6 points each. Kale Boomer ended the night with 3 points.
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