Left: Emily Jacobsen put up a shot against her Cromwell defender. Anytime Emily touched the ball, she drew a nice aggressive crowd of Cromwell defenders. Above: Arianna Poyirier shows off nice shooting form against Cromwell.
Cromwell girls came to town last Friday night, and a vastly improving Viking team was no match for the high-flying Cardinals.
The Cardinals used a stifling man-to-man defense and scored a lot of points on steals and breakaways for lay-ups. Other than the first few minutes, the game was out of reach against the two-loss squad.
The Vikings lost 79-26
“Cromwell is top in their section and made it to state last year,” said head Coach Kelly Senty. “They are even tougher compared to last year. They have a phenomenal program with a great coach and players who log countless hours in the off-season, and it pays off. Their shooting and hustle are really just amazing to watch.
“Our girls struggled to make a basket, which hurts us against a team like this. Having a couple of buckets fall helps build the momentum, and we had difficulty making shots against their tough man-to-man pressure.
“Defensively I think the team learned how hard we have to work to fight through screens and box out with a team that crashes hard and moves so well.
“I told the girls after the game to hold their heads up high as they didn’t give up when the game got away from us,” Coach Senty said.
Emily Jacobsen— who usually scores 15-20 points—was held to 9 in the game. Maya McHugh scored 8 points, Adrianna Poyirier 4, Sophie Eliasen 3, and Hannah Toftey 2.
The Vikings’ record is now 4-4 in conference league play and 8-6 overall. Cromwell leads the Polar League with a 9-0 mark and sports a 13-2 overall record.
Vikings make big comeback to take win
The Vikings came out flat against the Carlton Bulldogs on Tuesday, Jan. 31 in a road game they needed to win.
“We were down by 16 at the half having committed 18 turnovers,” said head coach Kelly Senty. “We were not taking care of the basketball and boarding like we are capable of.”
Following the halftime break, the Vikings came back out on the floor and looked like a different team, said Coach Senty. “The girls went out of halftime with a nice 3-pointer by Sophie Eliasen, and we kept battling slowly back, tying the game with two minutes left.
“Abbie Crawford played well under pressure. She made a key 3-pointer then a couple of free throws and also scored after grabbing an offensive board.
“The focus moving forward will be how to start strong right when the game starts.”
Emily Jacobsen led the Vikings in scoring with 14 points. Sophie Eliasen finished with 13, Abbie Crawford 11, Sarah Toftey 5, Hannah Toftey 3, and Maya McHugh 2.
The Vikings have a home game on Friday, February 3 against Barnum then have their next home game against Esko on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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