Left: Emily Jacobsen powered past two Northeast Range Nighthawk defenders to score two of her 9 points in the contest. Above: Maya McHugh had this shot blocked in the Vikings’ home game against McGregor, but it didn’t matter as the Vikings won 56-40 over the Mercs.
Northeast Range was up 8-0 before the Vikings scored their first points, a long 3-pointer by Sarah Toftey. From that point on the Vikings scrambled back into the contest and played the Nighthawks even up, although the Vikings eventually fell 44-42 at the end of a hard-fought game.
Played at home on Thursday, January 22, the Vikings led only once, 20-19 at halftime.
A missing piece in the Vikings’ offense all season long has been the ability of Viking players to make 3-point baskets. That wasn’t the case on Thursday night as the Vikings made five 3-point baskets, more than they have made in all of the games combined this season.
Sarah Toftey made three 3-point baskets while Sophia Eliasen made 2, giving the Vikings 15 points from long range.
Sarah Toftey led all Viking scorers with 13 points. Sophie Eliasen scored 10 points. Emily Jacobsen had 9 points and 3 rebounds while Jami Sjogren had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Lily Gruber- Schulz finished with 4 points and 8 rebounds.
After the game Head Coach Mitch Dorr said, “Sarah Toftey played a terrific game. She did a great job at point guard while scoring 13 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, dishing out 7 assists, and grabbing two steals. In addition, her defense was outstanding…. just a great overall performance.
“Maya McHugh continues to impress on the defensive end of the floor. We assigned her to their best player and she played great!
“Sophie played her best game as she stayed composed, patient, and played within our scheme.
“The game was a heartbreaker as we had three quality looks at the basket to either take the lead or tie. We just couldn’t finish it off,” said Dorr.
Vikings beat McGregor
What a difference a day makes. The Vikings played their most complete game of the year in their 56-40 win over McGregor at home the next day.
While everyone did her part, especially on defense, this was a resurgence of sorts for last year’s team-leading scorer Lily Gruber-Schulz, who has been quiet on offense as of late.
The Vikings were up 14-10 midway through the first half before surging to a 25-15 halftime lead. Much of the Vikings’ early scoring was done by Gruber- Schulz, who used her quickness and strength to drive through the defense and score on lay-ups.
McGregor made one nice run early in the second half, coming within 4 points, 30-26, before the Vikings pulled away behind the scoring of Emily Jacobsen and Gruber- Schulz, as both 6-footers controlled the boards and scored the Vikings’ next 17 points, pushing the lead to 47-32.
At that juncture Sophie Eliasen and Jami Sjogren each scored 2-point baskets while Gruber-Schulz converted one free throw and then Jacobsen closed out the Mercs with the Vikings’ final six points.
Lily Gruber-Schulz finished with 23 points, Jacobsen 20, Sophie Eliasen 7, and Jami Sjogren had 6 points to end the Vikings’ scoring.
Vikings win at Mesabi East 45-40
With Vikings’ center Emily Jacobsen riding the pines for much of the first half, the Vikings were down 19-17 at the break in their game played away on Tuesday, January 27.
“Emily got in early foul trouble and sat 15 of the first 18 minutes of play,” said Coach Dorr.
The 6-foot sophomore came out for the second half and, said Dorr, “She got another quick foul and sat another five minutes.”
With one of their top players getting a bird’s eye view from the bench, other players had to step up and they did.
“Our girls persevered, however, as Sophie played well for us off the bench. We were down by two with about 7 minutes to play and then went on a run to take a 39-32 lead.”
But, said Dorr, “Mesabi East cut the lead to 39-37.”
At that juncture Lily hit a big shot, said Dorr. After that big shot, Dorr said, “Emily and Sarah Toftey hit four straight free throws and then following another big shot by Lily, Sophie sealed the game with three straight free throws.
“In the final two minutes of the game we were 7 for 7 from the free throw line,” said Coach Dorr.
Lily Gruber-Schulz led Viking scorers with 20 points. Eliasen followed with 13, Jacobsen 7, Toftey 6, and Jamie Sjogren had 4 points.
The Vikings have two away games before coming home on February 6 to face the Eskimo Eskimos. Game time is 6:30 p.m. Go Vikings!
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