On this play, Lily Gruber-Schulz didn’t let the Floodwood defender stop her from scoring two of her 21 points. The Vikings lost to a very talented Floodwood Polar Bear team, but look to rebound in their next two games against Silver Bay and Two Harbors.
Viking girls’ new Head Coach Kelly Senty saw some things she liked and saw some things her team needed to work on in the Vikings’ home opener loss to the Floodwood Polar Bears on Tuesday, December 8.
The Vikings lost 62-48. Floodwood’s win extended their record to 4-0.
With most of the girls coming off Cook County’s longest volleyball season ever—including a trip to the state tournament—the team hasn’t been together very long and it showed during the game.
However, Senty said, the trip to state in volleyball was a plus for her girls. “They learned how to win, how to play together as a team. I’m not sure missing Captain’s Practice was bad for them. It allowed the 7th, 8th and 9th graders to practice and they filled up the gym. It was great to see.”
Floodwood, said Senty, is a solid team with great outside shooters. “They have great 3-point shooters and they are tall and fast. This was their third or fourth game and it showed.”
The Vikings used a variety of defenses to slow down the Polar Bears. “We played some manto man, some zone and pressed a little bit. We need to work on our transition game so we can get some easy baskets, but that will come,” said Coach Senty.
While the Polar Bears raced out to a big lead in the first half, the Vikings worked on their low post play and tried to get in the face of Floodwood shooters. The results weren’t always what the coach wanted, but she said the effort was always there.
Things got better in the second half when senior forward Lily Gruber-Schulz took over and started to drive to the basket. Gruber-Schulz ended her night with a team-high 21 points.
“Floodwood was a tough team but we gave a good effort,” said Senty. “We got in some foul trouble and this allowed us to play kids off of the bench. Those kids went in and performed well. We can build off of that.”
Following Gruber-Schulz in scoring was junior center Emily Jacobsen who ended with 13 points. Freshman guard Sophie Eliasen scored 10, Sarah Tofte 2 and Maya McHugh had 2 points.
Gruber-Schulz turned her ankle in the game and sat out of practice the next day to ice it. Senty said she would be ready to practice the next day.
As far as transitioning from head coach Mitch Dorr’s style of play to Coach Senty’s style, Senty said, “We are making adjustments to fit our personnel but building off of the foundation he left us while building on to our strengths.”
The Vikings’ next game will be played away on December 17 at Silver Bay. The Vikings come home the next night to face another North Shore rival, the Two Harbors Agates at 4:45 p.m. Go Vikings!
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