Sarah Toftey took aim at the basket in a recent home game against the Two Harbors Agates while No. 10 Lily Gruber-Schulz went up and scored 2 of her 9 points in that contest. Lily also ended up with 9 rebounds in the December 11 game. The Vikings played and lost three times to the Agates in a two-week period.
One would have thought the Cook County girls’ basketball team would have seen quite enough of the Two Harbors Agates, losing two games by close margins in eight days to their North Shore foe right before Christmas.
However, the Vikings traveled to Two Harbors again on December 26 to play in the Agates’ Christmas tournament. The Vikings beat Duluth Marshall 48-34. That win set up a rematch with the Agates, who defeated Silver Bay 79-19 to play for the championship.
In the game against the Hilltoppers, Lily Gruber-Schulz led the Vikings with 14 points. Nine of the 13 girls scored with all of the girls playing in the game, said Head Coach Mitch Dorr.
“We didn’t play particularly well, but did what we needed to do to win,” said Dorr.
Other Vikings to score included eighth-grade point guard Sophie Eliasen, who had 9 points, her most ever as a Viking varsity player. Emily Jacobsen 8, Maya McHugh 4, Jami Sjogren 4, Sara Toftey 3, Shauna Blake 2, Hannah Toftey 2, and Libby Zafft 2, ended the Vikings scoring.
Vikings play Two Harbors
Coach Dorr couldn’t attend the championship game because he had to leave to attend a family event, so head coaching duties fell to his capable assistant Kelly Senty.
The Vikings trailed 23-14 at the half, but then couldn’t generate a basket for the opening nine minutes of second half play and ended up losing 51-30 to Two Harbors, their worst defeat this year by the Agates.
The Vikings primarily played man-to-man for the entire game. “Our girls are having a tough time learning multiple defenses so we are keeping things simple,” Dorr said.
“We really need to have an off-season filled with basketball as our team really can’t score. We need the weight room and a lot of time in the gym,” he said.
Dorr praised Two Harbors for the way the tournament was run. “Our girls stayed in Two Harbors for the night at the Northern Traincar Inn for some team bonding. Pretty cool. “Two Harbors did a nice job of hosting the tourney. Emily Jacobsen won the two point shooting contest on Friday night and was presented with a nice plaque,” said Dorr.
Dorr didn’t have point or rebound totals for the championship game. The Vikings’ next game will be played on January 6 at home against the Silver Bay Mariners. Tip off starts at 6:30 p.m.
Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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