Above left: Known most for his defense and rebounding, Justin Goldstein doesn’t shoot often, but when he does shoot it’s usually good. Above right: Jordan Lack uses his quickness to make a move past the Wrenshall guard.
Brian Larsen
At the 12:34 mark Viking David Bergstrom pulled up and drained a 10-foot basket, putting the Vikings up 9-7 over a feisty Wrenshall Wren team.
The two teams met in Grand Marais on Friday, February 17, and until that point, the Wrens had been playing the Vikings even.
But the next 7 minutes and 4 seconds would tell the story as the Vikings clamped down on defense and held the Wrens scoreless while notching 16 points of their own, giving the Vikings a 25-7 lead. The Vikings went into the locker room up 29-13, and the second half saw Head Coach Mitch Dorr substitute liberally, giving younger players a chance to see some varsity action.
Ninth-grader Trevor Deschampe saw his first varsity action and hit a three-point shot late in the game to send the crowd to its feet. The game ended with the Vikings up 59-38 and Dorr resting his players for their big game the next night against Lakeview Christian Academy. The Vikings ended with their record 16-1. Wrenshall’s record fell to 0-19, although they appeared to play better than that and they have had half a dozen very close losses.
Lions’ Anders Broman unstoppable
So far no one has been able to stop Lakeview Christian Academy’s (LCA) Lions junior guard Anders Broman from scoring, and on Saturday, February 18, the Vikings got their chance when they faced gym-less LCA at St. Scholastica’s Reif Center.
The Lakeview Christian Lions play five “home” games at St. Scholastica because it doesn’t have its own gymnasium.
The plan wasn’t exactly geared to shut Broman down entirely. Head Coach Mitch Dorr knew that would be next to impossible. The plan was to shut down LCA Center Luke Borchart, and they did, holding him to 8 points. They also tried to put pressure on the other LCA players in an effort to slow down the fast-paced offense. On this night, it didn’t work.
Close but no cigar! Mike Sjogren slipped past the Wrenshall defender’s outstretched hand and scored two points in the Viking’s win last week against the Wrenshall Wrens.
In the end shutting down the Lions’ offense was like trying to seal all of the pinhole leaks in a sun-dried, worn-out plastic hose. About the time one hole is sealed, five more open up. And that one big hole you try to stuff a rag around and then tape? That’s Anders Broman and he just rains in the points no matter what you do.
Then there’s the other nettlesome Broman brother, ninth-grader Bjorn. He’s nearly as big and nearly as fast and just might shoot as well as Anders. Bjorn got free for 9 points and had 12 assists for the game. But on some nights he’s good for 30 points, so what do you do?
Meanwhile, as Viking announcer Dick Dorr (Coach Mitch’s father) said of Anders, “He plays offense as if nobody is guarding him. He ignores the defender completely. On his drives to the lane, he stops on a dime and just jumps right up and shoots. And he nearly never misses. He’s just a special player.”
Fans of the Year! Longtime Cook County High School sports fans Ken and Molly Hoffman were honored by the CCHS booster club as the Viking “Fans of the Year” during the intermission between the boys’ and girls’ games against the Wrenshall Wrens. They each received Viking sweatshirts from the Cook County Booster Club.The other Viking boosters pictured here with Ken and Molly are (L-R) Cindy Crawford, Julie Puch, peeking over Ken’s shoulder is Virginia Palmer, Helena Blake and Chris and Terri Goettl.
In fact, on this night, Anders Broman would be special enough to score 50 points, more than the Vikings usually give up to entire teams.
Broman came onto the contest averaging 45 points a game. It was a match-up of two teams with two very different strategies. The Vikings are noted for defense and the Lions are noted for their offense, and on this night, offense won.
Broman scored pretty much at will, slashing to the basket for lay-ups or hitting mid-range jump shots. He also had four steals and six assists.
The Vikings put up a battle, never giving up, and closed to within 6 points late in the second half, coming back from being down 43-28 at halftime. But in the end it was just too much Anders Broman.
Once again senior forward Dylan Quaife led the scoring for the Vikings with 21 points. David Bergstrom scored 18, Kale Boomer, 15, Colin Everson, 7, Mike Sjogren, 5. Make no mistake, the Vikings came ready to play, and if not for playing a game the night before the game might have been closer.
At the end of the contest Broman’s 50 points gave him 3,462 points for his career. He moved past Ellsworth graduate Cody Shilling for second on Minnesota’s alltime scoring list and trails only Minnesota Transitions player Kevin Noreen who graduated in 2010 with 4,086 points.
Lakeview Christian Academy will now likely be the No. 1 seed for section 7A, and the Vikings will fall to No. 2 seed.
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