Above: Sophomore guard Sarah Toftey (with Jami Sjogren behind her) has been one of the Vikings’ top defenders all season and her tenaciousness on defense is one of the reasons the Vikings had a four-game winning streak at the end of the season. Above right: Lily Gruber-Schulz lofted a shot against the Lakeview Christian Lions. Gruber-Schulz scored 15 points in that game. Right: Surrounded by defenders, Emily Jacobsen (42) looks for an open player to pass to.
Cat-quick eighth-grade guard Sophie Eliasen picked a fine time to score 16 points, 12 of those coming off of 3-point baskets, as the Vikings advanced 49-41 over the Lakeview Christian Lions in the first-round of Section 7A playoffs held in Hermantown on March 5.
Junior guard/forward Lily Gruber-Schulz also had a big night for the Vikings, scoring 15 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Sophomore center Emily Jacobsen scored 12 points and led the team with 18 rebounds. Sarah Toftey scored 2 points and dished out 10 assists while Bailey Cox scored 1 point for the Vikings.
“We played great team defense and Sarah Toftey did a great job competing against Eva Reinertsen [she average 27 points per game],” said Head Coach Mitch Dorr. “In addition, as a team we really did a great job taking care of the ball as we only turned the ball over 13 times, which is 10 below our team average.”
The Vikings advanced to play Cromwell in Hibbing on Saturday, March 7.
Competitive season ends with loss to Cardinals
The basketball season came to an end when the Vikings lost to Cromwell 65-45 in the Section 7A quarterfinal played in Hibbing.
“I was extremely impressed with how hard our girls worked and competed against Cromwell,” said Coach Dorr. “We really played some of our best basketball of the season in stretches. With three minutes to play, we cut Cromwell’s lead to 14, but they were just too much down the stretch.
“Lily and Sarah did a great job handling the full court pressure. We had some lapses at times, but Sarah and Lily really did a nice job.
“They killed us on the boards, out rebounding us by double digits. Overall though, we played very, very well and each of our girls really played well. I was very proud of the improvement exhibited over the course of the season,” Coach Dorr said.
Lily Gruber-Schulz led the Vikings with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Emily Jacobsen netted 15 points and pulled down 9 rebounds while Sarah Toftey had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Essance Haines scored 5 points and Sophie Eliasen had 3 points to end the Vikings’ scoring.
The young Viking team ended their season with 10 wins and 13 lo es. A lot of talent is etu ning and if they play some basketb ll over the summer, they should be one of the better teams in the conference next year.
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