Left: Tipping off the baskeball season, Jonny Jacobsen (40) went up high against the center from Nashwauk. Above: Jamie Wick had nice touch on his 3-point shots but the ball often just rimmed out. The Vikings played a good game but lost 48-36 to the Spartans.
Cook County’s center Jonny Jacobsen scored the first 2 points of the season for a young Viking squad in the opening game at home against Nashwauk- Keewatin Friday, November 22.
Jacobsen scored on a nifty inside move after receiving a nice pass from sophomore guard Jared Spry. The lead was the only one the Vikings would have in a contest that was tied 17-17 at halftime and was close throughout.
The first series was a good omen for a new team, one that returned only Jacobsen as a starter, and a cast made up of some kids who haven’t played much basketball and a new head coach, to boot.
But like the lace of a new boot, tied tight as you can get it, the more you walk, the looser the lace becomes. The longer this game went on, the looser the Vikings’ play became, and so a game that was 17-17 at halftime slowly slipped away from the Vikings.
However, the effort to win was always there, and if some close shots had fallen, this is a game they could have won.
It took awhile for both teams to find their shooting touch as players’ shots found the rim as cold as the frigid temperature outside. But with time winding off the clock at the end of the first half, Vikings’ forward Jamie Wick made the play of the night when he came out of nowhere to go up high and tip in a miss as the buzzer sounded. The gym erupted with cheers as the teams went into the locker room tied at 17.
For the first half the Vikings’ 2-3 zone defense made it hard for Nashwauk’s guards to get the ball in to Kevin Hale, their very mobile 6’4” center. But during the second half the Spartans got some decent outside shooting and that opened things up underneath for Hale, who ended his night with 18 points.
Meanwhile the Vikings had a lot of good looks and a lot of balls nearly go in, but more often than not, they couldn’t get the ball to drop, falling 48-36 to the Spartans.
Jonny Jacobsen led Viking scorers with 13 points. Brandon Curtis scored 9 points, Richie Furlong, 5, Andy Farley, 3, Owen Anderson, 3, Jamie Wick, 2, and Jared Spry, 1, followed him.
“I thought the kids played fantastic,” said new Head Coach Pat Eliasen. “I couldn’t ask for a better effort or a better bunch of kids.
“Jonny and Brandon [Curtis] really rebounded well. I haven’t looked at the game film yet, but I’m sure we out rebounded Nashwauk. We had quite a few second and third shots. We just had trouble getting the ball to fall.
“I thought Jared Spry did a fantastic job playing point guard for us. He’s just a sophomore and he got thrown to the wolves a little bit. But he handled the pressure well and ran the team really well when he was out there. Richie [Furlong] also came in and played great for us at the point. Owen Anderson and Jamie Wick also played well for us. Andy Farley got in late and hit a big three. It was exciting to see.
“All in all, for a first game with new kids getting their first varsity action, it was really encouraging. It was a lot of fun. And, if we keep working hard and playing together, we should win some games this year,” Eliasen said, adding after a moment of thought, “No, we will win some games this year.”
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