Head Coach T.J. Super diagrams a play for his team in its Section 7A semifinal game played against Mountain Iron-Buhl on March 9 in Hibbing. The Vikings lost a close game to MIB, ending their season with 20 wins and 4 losses. MIB went on to defeat Floodwood for the Section 7A championship and earned a berth to the State Championship tournament. Congratulations to the Vikings on a great season!
In a game marred with numerous fouls and exciting runs by both teams; in a game marked with great defensive stops and artistic passes and some beautiful rebounding; in a game like that, in a game as exciting and eventful as that, usually one player decides things. And the Section 7A semifinal game against Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB) contest held on March 9 in Hibbing, was decided by the Rangers’ sharp-shooting Charlotte Overbye.
Earlier in the year the Vikings beat MIB by 7 points at home and held Overbye to 36 points. The coaches and players knew she had to be stopped and the Vikings did all they could to slow her down. In the end, they couldn’t, and Overbye scored 40 points.
What happened to the Vikings of course was more than just Overbye’s play. MIB came out with fire in their bellies and did something to Cook County that the Vikings usually do to other teams. They jumped out to a 19-1 lead with Overbye scoring 15 of those points. They played an ironclad team defense.
“After a couple of we regrouped timeouts, and got doing a backs to what we do best, playing tough defense, rebounding, and attacking the basket,” said Head Coach T.J. Super. This aggressive play led to free throws by sophomores Taylor Ryden and Theresa Morrin and Ashley Deschampe scored 12 of the next 14 points to pull the teams almost even. Overbye hit a late bucket and Molly Zafft had a put back for two to send the teams to the locker room 28-24, MIB up by 4 points. Both teams came out of the locker room ready to play in the second half. Over the next 10 minutes, the Vikings would get as close as 3 points and fall behind by as many as 7 points. But with 7 minutes left the Vikings turned the ball over three straight times which led to three straight MIB scores.
Down by 10 points with the clock running out, the Vikings tried in vain to catch their opponents, but Overbye would always score a basket to keep her team’s lead just out of Viking range.
“Overbye went on two separate runs in the second half when she scored 8 and 10 straight points and willed her team to victory,” said Super.
No other MIB player scored in double figures.
“My team played their hardest and despite being in constant foul trouble, put up a battle to the end,” said Super.
Deschampe scored 31 points, including five 3s and went 8-8 from the free throw line. Ryden scored 8 points, all of them coming from the charity stripe, where she was 8-12. Senior Brea Boomer, said Super, “was held in check by the Rangers and chipped in 8 points, almost 10 below her average.
“Senior Ailee Larsen, junior Bekah Laky, and Morrin all struggled to get their offense going, defense too, but all played good and rebounded well,” Super said.
Both teams combined to shoot 52 free throws in a game that lacked consistent flow.
For the season, the Vikings recorded 20 wins to 4 losses, with all four of those losses coming to teams playing in Section championship games. The Vikings return 10 solid underclassmen next season, but, noted Super,
“We lose Ailee and Brea, both special players that will be sorely missed on the court where they are great leaders. Both girls had awesome careers and set great examples of what success real dedication can lead to.”
Super went on to thank his assistant coaches, “John Jacobsen, Kim Linnell, and Kelly Roberts put in a lot of time in developing our younger players and helping out the varsity. They often times go unnoticed but they do so much to make the season run smoothly and cannot be thanked enough.
“I’d like to thank the parents who put in so much time into traveling to games and practices and support the team. It’s often not easy (or cheap) to travel to games when you live in Cook County but we’ve had amazing support all season from our parents and fans and it really means a lot to the team to see a lot of familiar faces at games.
“Another thank you goes out to WTIP, Dick Dorr, and Norman Moe for broadcasting our games, running interviews with the girls, and promoting the team to the entire county and state.
“But most thanks should go to the girls, who put in a ton of time, work, and dedication to making this a great season. They are a phenomenal team, entertaining to watch, and great kids to represent Cook County. It’s been a real pleasure working with this great group of girls,” said Super.
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