Putting up a shot, Ray Gordon aims and shoots before the defense can get to him. Staff photo/Laurie Johnson
Ray Gordon hit a three-point shot and came right back to nail a two point basket and sink his free throw after being fouled on the play to give the Vikings a 6-0 lead over the Silver Bay Mariners last Thursday, Jan. 17 in a game played at home.
Almost four minutes went by before either team put any points on the scoreboard, an eternity in basketball.
Defense might have had something to do with that scoring drought, but honestly, each team had a half-dozen good looks over that time but no one could put the ball in the basket.
Once Gordon found the bottom of the net, Silver Bay began to come back and get some baskets of its own. Led by 6’2” junior guard Mason Ollman, the Mariners soon caught up and ended up leading the Vikings 29-25 at the half.
Both teams traded baskets for much of the second half. The Mariners went up 43-36 at one point, but Will Ramberg split the defense and put in a lay-up to pull his team to within 5 points.
Playing defense off of the ball handler, Ray Gordon suddenly went down hard on the court, clutching his eye about eight minutes into second half action. When he exposed his eye it was a mass of blood. The game was stopped and the floor was cleaned up while Ray went to the locker room for medical attention. A few minutes later he was back and on the court playing, which was really good to see.
Jordan Porter goes up for a jump shot, scoring two points on the make in a recent home game. Staff photo Laurie Johnson
Meanwhile the Vikings started passing the ball inside to Will Ramberg, who had been silent much of the night, and Will began to score points.
Sophomore guard Cade Northrup came in with freshman forward Daunte Deschampe to give some of the starters a rest. Cade hit a big three-point shot to bring the score to 43-41. Pete Sutton tied the score 46-46 on a long three and Ramberg gave the Vikings a two point lead a few seconds later. The Mariners tied the game 48-48 on an inside basket by Weston Monson.
Once again Will took the ball to the hole and was fouled, sinking his free throw to give the Vikings a 51-48 lead. After an Agate stop, Ray dribbled down the court and was fouled, making one of two free throws to boost the lead to 52-48.
A two-point basket by a Mariner brought the score to 52-50. With less than 30 seconds to play Ramberg stole the ball at mid-court and went in uncontested for a slamdunk on what would have been an exclamation point and guaranteed the win for the Vikings. However, Will brought the ball down hard on the back of the rim and it caromed off back to a Mariner player.
With seven seconds left and the ball, Silver Bay called a timeout and hoisted up two long shots, one coming off the back of the rim as time ran out, leaving the Vikings with an exciting 52-50 win.
The victory boosts the Vikings’ record to 7-5 and the team sits in fourth place in the Polar “Big” conference with a 2-2 mark.
Boys fall to Cromwell
The next day the Vikings boarded a bus and traveled to play a strong Cromwell Cardinal team in Cromwell.
Viking head coach Colin Everson said, “The final against Cromwell was 75-59. Overall, against a solid opponent, we took small strides to improve. We got off to a slow start which we were never able to completely overcome, but it was good to see some things start to improve and it was good to see where we still need improvement.”
Will Ramberg led the team with 22 points. Ray Gordon had 14, Pete Sutton 8, Jordan Porter 6, Adam Dorr 3, and Daunte Deschampe finished with 3 points.
Vikings tame Giants
Keeping it exciting, Ray Gordon stood on the free throw line with two seconds left and the score tied.
Ray calmly sank both free throws and the Vikings won a road game 81-79 over the 9-5 Mesabi East Giants on Tuesday, January 22.
“It was an awesome game,” said head coach Colin Everson.
Once again Will Ramberg led the team in scoring with 29 points. Ray Gordon had 23, Pete Sutton 12, Jordan Porter 9, and Adam Dorr had 6.
“Overall, this was the best game we have had all year,” said head coach Colin Everson. “We struggled early against an aggressive defense. We battled back hitting timely shots and rebounding. Going into the half we were down by 9. We came back in the second half with a few adjustments and held them to 30 points in the second half and played well.”
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