Jamie Wick gets ready to school his defender. Wick scored 8 points against Lakeview Christian and pulled down 4 rebounds in the Vikings’ tough loss to the Lions.
The Cook County High School Vikings played a great game against Lakeview Christian Tuesday, February 18, but fell by 7 points when they failed to score in the last six minutes of the game, finishing 68-61.
“We played a very tough, gritty game,” said Head Coach Pat Eliasen.
“We altered our defense to attempt to contain Bjorn Broman who averages 41 points a game. We played a Box & 1, Triangle & 2 hybrid defense and the guys were absolutely flawless in their execution of this defense even after only working on it for a short while in practice,” Eliasen said.
Although the Vikings led by 10 points early in the second half, Lakeview Christian Academy clawed back and inched ahead.
“We had to foul to stop the clock and the free throws fell for LCA and the shots we put up on our side didn’t go through.
“I could not have been happier or more proud of the way the guys played. It was probably the best game we have put together so far this year both offensively and defensively,” Eliasen said.
Lars Scannell had the unenviable task of guarding Broman.
“Lars runs the offense and without him, we lose the ability to become effective. He played great defense on Broman all night until fouling out late in the second half. He was given the huge task to bottleneck Broman who went over 1,000 points for the season in the first half.
“Lars played excellent defense and the rest of the guys picked it up on defense by helping each other out and controlling the boards,” Eliasen said.
Coach Eliasen also noted the play of the rest of his starters:
“Richie Furlong plays as hard as anyone who walks onto the floor and will always be there to give 100 percent effort.”
“Jamie Wick is our three-point shooter on the team and he made some critical shots to keep LCA from collapsing totally on our big guys.”
“Jonny Jacobsen is the leader on the floor. He leads by his example of hard work and being a role model for our younger players to look up to.”
“Rory Bakke has come back to us from a knee injury and gives us another ball handler which we need.”
“Finally, Brandon Curtis is a monster in the paint. He gives 100 percent effort and it shows with his rebound and point totals. In the Duluth News Tribune last week he was currently the number two rebounder for the region.
“His play is nothing short of spectacular,” said Eliasen
For the game, Curtis scored 33 points and had 26 rebounds. Lars Scannell ended his night with 10 points and 2 rebounds while Jamie Wick finished with 8 points and pulled down 4 boards. Jonny Jacobsen had 6 points and 12 rebounds while Richie Furlong scored 2 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Rory Bakke finished with 2 points and 1 rebound.
The Vikings play two more games away before the regular season ends and the playoffs begin.
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