Theresa Morrin came up big for the Vikings in the playoff games against Floodwood and McGregor scoring 24 and 23 points, and was also one of the Vikings’ best defenders. Morrin earned Polar League Honorable Mention All-Conference for her fine play this season.
What a difference a month makes!
Led by senior forward/ guard Theresa Morrin, the Cook County High School girls’ basketball team pulled off an upset when the 8th ranked Vikings defeated the 6th ranked Floodwood Polar Bears in overtime 56-50 in the first round of District 7A play-offs. The game was played in Hermantown on Thursday, February 28.
Less than one month ago the girls played Floodwood at home and fell 84-54, a devastating 30-point loss.
Things were much different this time around. The Vikings’ defense frustrated the Polar Bears and never allowed them to go on a big scoring run like they did in the first match.
The Vikings were down 25-18 at the half, but came out and, “started to really clamp down on defense and take care of the ball on offense,” said Head Coach Todd Toulouse.
“We were extremely patient on both ends of the floor and boxed out real well on the defensive end,” said Toulouse, adding, “This is what we have been working for the entire year. All the girls had great effort, enthusiasm, and execution.”
Left: Called “the quiet leader” Kaitlynn Linnell’s play was anything but quiet underneath the hoop. Here Kaitlynn goes for 2 points against Floodwood. Above: Back from the dead— or injured list—Lily Gruber- Schulz surprised fans and foe alike by coming back from a bad ankle sprain to play in the Vikings’ two playoff games. Gruber-Schulz missed the last month of the regular season.
The earlier loss to Floodwood might have been the lowest point of the season for a team that has played hard but struggled at times with injuries and consistency when it came to taking care of the ball.
One of the injured players missing from that first contest was freshman Lily Gruber- Schulz. She rolled her ankle in a previous game and it was a bad enough sprain that both her parents and the coach decided to end the season for Gruber- Schulz. At 6 feet and quick for her size, Gruber-Schulz was a force on the boards, grabbing about 12 rebounds a game. She also was a great defensive stopper and had nights when she scored in double figures. Losing Gruber-Schulz was hard for a team with a thin bench. So it was nice surprise to see Gruber-Schulz back in action in the playoffs against Floodwood. Nice for the Vikings, that is.
Getting Gruber-Schulz back was a plus, but “Theresa (Morrin) stepped up in the overtime and second half. She ended the game with 24 points, but had 20 overall in the overtime and second half,” said Coach Toulouse.
Morrin has been the leader of this team all year and is entertaining offers to play basketball in college next year, but she couldn’t win the game by herself. Her frenetically fast running mates, guards Breana Peterson and Leah Utities, were a big reason the Vikings won this game. That and the rock steady and heady play of center Kaitlynn Linnell.
Just their defensive pressure is enough to change the outcomes of some games, and the Vikings needed every bit of their energy on this night.
But as Toulouse said, the whole team stepped up and played well.
“It was nice to get Breana [who also missed a couple of games due to a sprained ankle] and Lily back. Just their presence gave the team a spark. Breana had a solid game on both ends of the floor.
“Leah [Utities] stepped up and had a great second half after she struggled in the first half. I was proud to see her bounce back like that.
“Jamie Sjogren and Susie Burton came in off the bench and also played real solid minutes.
“Kaitlynn also rebounded real well and defended well in our zone. She did a good job of communicating and knowing where to be and how to position herself.
“It was just a great effort overall. I am extremely proud of them,” Toulouse said.
Senior forward/guard Theresa Morrin led all scorers with 24 points. Breana Peterson scored 15 points, Leah Utities scored 7 points and Lily Gruber-Schulz and Kaitlynn Linnell each scored 5 points.
Stacey Larva led Floodwood with 16 points.
The Vikings faced the 25-3 McGregor Mercuries in Hibbing on Saturday, March 2.
Vikings lose in overtime to McGregor
As Coach Toulouse has said all season, when his team plays together they can beat just about anybody. And the Vikings nearly did beat the Section 7A number 1 seed McGregor Mercuries in Hibbing last Saturday, losing a heartbreaker in overtime 64-57 in a Section 7A quarterfinal girls’ basketball game.
The score was 53-53 when the buzzer sounded, and in overtime McGregor star Abby Hawkinson scored all 11 of her team’s points to lead her team to the win. Hawkinson netted 35 points on the night to lead all players in scoring.
Coming in as the sixth seed and sporting an 11-15 record, the Vikings were big underdogs. Last time the two teams met in early December, McGregor thumped the Vikings 73-46. But this was a much different team. A much better Viking team whose younger players have matured.
The game was close throughout, with the Vikings taking a surprising but well deserved 25-20 lead into the halftime. By using pressure defense and slowing their offense down and taking care of the ball, the Vikings dictated the tempo and flow of the game. The one McGregor player the Vikings couldn’t stop was Hawkinson, but often a star offensive player will score no matter what the defense does.
Still, it was an outstanding night for the girls, and they had stars of their own. Theresa Morrin was terrific on defense and once again led her team in scoring with 23 points, hitting clutch shots throughout the game as she has all season.
Both Viking guards Breana Peterson, who scored 11 points, and Leah Utities, who scored 7 points, handled the ball well and as always played aggressive, harassing defense. The kind of defense coaches love and opposing players hate.
Lily Gruber-Schulz, who was going to call it a season after badly spraining her ankle over one month ago, reappeared for the playoffs, shook the rust off of her game and was again terrific on the boards and came up big with 11 points and with Viking center Kaitlynn Linnell, helped to smother McGregor’s inside game.
As for Linnell, who the coach calls a quiet leader on the floor, Kaitlynn scored 5 points and played tough underneath, pulling down some tough rebounds and stopping numerous drives to the basket.
It will go down as a loss on the record books, but as Coach Toulouse said, “There was never a doubt in my mind that we got much better towards the end of the season that we would make some noise in the playoffs. I knew that if we played our style that we would have a great chance at not only staying in the games, but also winning them. We made a tremendous amount of progress and the way we ended this year should be a positive start for next year.”
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