Photos by John Grones, courtesy of Polarleague.com The Vikings faced off against the Cromwell Cardinals on Friday, December 18. Here, Mike Austin grabs a rebound at the game versus Cromwell. Austin led the Vikings with 14 points.
After a tough seasonopening loss to Nashwauk, the Vikings had to wait 14 days for the second game of the season. Thelapse in time didn’t help the Vikings. It was like starting all over again, and the Cromwell Cardinals took advantage, outplaying Cook County in every facet of the game. The Vikings dropped the second game of the season, 30-61.
In the first five minutes of play, the Vikings looked good as they took an early 6-5 lead behind some strong team defense. The Cardinals then went on a 32-11 run over the next 13 minutes to take a dominating 16-38 halftime lead. Seventeen first-half turnovers by the Vikings was too much to overcome.
In addition, poor passing and passive defense really hurt the Vikings. Cook County’s game plan was to focus their attention on Cromwell’s two offensive stars: Cody Smith and Ryan Hutar. At halftime, the duo had already scored 23 points and the damage was done. At the half, Cook County was led by Mike Austin’s seven points.
Brock Hommerding shoots over a Cromwell defender.
Not much changed in the second half, as the Cardinals outscored the Vikings 23-16 to win 61-30.
A bright spot for the Vikings was the strong play of the young bench. Freshmen Kale Boomer and Colin Everson along with sophomores David Bergstrom and Mike Sjogren really looked good. Their hustle and teamwork gave the Viking coaching staff some renewed confidence in the bench.
The Vikings were led by Mike Austin’s 14 points. No other Viking scored more than six points. Cook County was on the road in Mountain Iron this past Monday and then at home against Silver Bay on Tuesday. Look in next week’s edition for all the scores and highlights.
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