Ryan Martinson easily won the tip-off against Floodwood’s sophomore center in a game that was anything but easy. The Vikings won the hard fought contest 44-37. Martinson netted 12 points and grabbed numerous rebounds to help the Vikings win the game.
Both the Vikings and the Floodwood Polar Bears came out flat in the game played Friday, January 21 in Grand Marais. Neither team seemed to have much zip in the first half, but both teams came out much better in the second half and the crowd saw an entertaining game.
Points were hard to come by. With more than 10 minutes gone, the score was Floodwood 7, Vikings 4. But the Vikings managed to outscore Floodwood 12-7 in the last nine minutes to take a 16-14 lead into halftime. Leading scorers for the Vikings at the break were Ryan Martinson and Dylan Quaife, who each had 6 points. David Bergstrom added 4 points.
With seven minutes to play, the score was 29-29 and Floodwood took its first lead in a long time, 31-29. But the Vikings fought back to a 38-34 lead with less than three minutes to play. During this run Ryan Martinson scored a couple of baskets and Dylan Quaife and David Bergstrom each hit two pointers. With time running out the Polar Bears were forced to foul and the Viking players managed to hit just enough foul shots to put the game out of reach, winning 44-37.
David Bergstrom led all Viking scores with 14 points. Martinson and Quaife, who each netted 12 points, followed him. Colin Everson finished the Vikings scoring with 6 points.
Vikings lose to Ely
The following night the Vikings traveled to Ely to take on the unbeaten Timberwolves. Despite heavy legs the Vikings managed to take Ely to the brink of defeat, coming up just short, losing 41-38.
Once again, David Bergstrom led the way for the Vikings, finishing with a triple double 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 steals.
Ely’s Shawn Fisher led all scorers with 16 points.
One of the keys to Ely’s success was holding senior guard Ryan Martinson’s scoring down. Martinson usually finishes in double figures, but was held to 4 points on the night. Colin Everson added 11 points and Dylan Quaife scored 10 points on an evening that saw all of the Vikings playing exceptionally well on defense.
Head Coach Mitch Dorr said, “The guys played well in Ely. I was very proud of our effort. We played great defense but we just didn’t have our best night shooting. David Bergstrom was tremendous with his triple double, and he was absolutely outstanding on defense as well.
“Colin Everson stepped up and made three critical three-point shots. We were tied with two minutes left in the game, but we just didn’t make our shots down the stretch. We are improving though and that is our focus.”
The boys played Babbitt/Embarrass on Thursday and Wrenshall on the road on Friday, January 28.
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