Colin Everson has emerged as the Vikings’ go to scorer early in the season. He has averaged 28 points over the Vikings’ first two wins. Above, Colin shoots over two defenders from South Range in Tuesday’s game against the South Ridge Panthers.
The Cook County High School boys’ basketball team opened its season by defeating the Nashwauk-Keewatin Spartans 70-61 on Friday, November 30, then came back to beat the South Ridge Panthers 46-40 at home on Tuesday, December 4.
Colin Everson led all scorers with 30 points in the game against Nashwauk. Colin also had 5 assists and 4 rebounds in the game. Fellow senior guard Kale Boomer contributed 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists while Justin Goldstein added 9 points, Peter Warren 7 points and Lars Scannell 5 points.
A great start to the season for sure, but it will be hard, if not impossible for the 2012 – 2013 Cook County High School boys’ basketball team to match last year’s 20-3 record.
Gone are graduated seniors Dylan Quaife, David Bergstrom and Mike Sjogren. All three were good at all phases of the game and their presence and leadership will be missed this season.
Still, several outstanding players return, and Head Coach Mitch Dorr plans to build around them while his younger players get some experience at the varsity level. That was never in more evidence in the team’s first game last Tuesday night, December 4, home against the South Ridge Panthers.
Above left: Kale Boomer busted through the lane and shot a floater over the South Ridge Panther defensive player’s outstretched hand hitting nothing but net. Above
With senior point guard Kale Boomer bringing the ball up the court and senior guard Colin Everson on the end of many of Boomer’s passes, the team came back from a 21-10 deficit midway through the first half to go on and beat the South Ridge Panthers 46-40.
Following a jittery first 10 minutes of play, the Vikings settled down and used tough defense to slowly work their way back into the game, tying the Panthers 23-23 at half. During that period the Viking players crashed the boards and picked up most of the balls coming off the glass to hold South Ridge to one shot and then patiently ran their offense to get good open looks for the shooters.
They kept up the pressure and surged to a 41-33 lead late in the game and held on as the Panthers mounted a full court press or tried to run a trap at the centerline to steal the ball from the Vikings. In the end it was a good win for the Vikings who are short on experience off the bench.
right: Justine Goldstein hit three long-range shots against the Panthers. One of the keys to the Vikings’ success this year will be whether Goldstein can continue to keep defenses loose with his ability to hit the 3-point shot.
Everson scored 26 points to lead all scorers. Boomer added 7 points and senior forward Justin Goldstein showed nice touch from the outside, hitting three 3-point shots to score 9 points while the other Viking senior forward Peter Warren scored 4 points. Freshman guard Rory Bakke also started and showed great poise on the floor.
While Everson and Boomer have the most varsity playing experience, Coach Dorr said the other two seniors Goldstein and Warren would be counted on for their rebounding and defense. And said Dorr, “Goldstein will be counted on to hit the three-point shot for the team, and Peter Warren should be a force on the inside rebounding.”
The Vikings are also returning junior 6’4” center Jonny Jacobsen, but he is currently recouping from surgery to fix a knee he injured in football. Jacobsen will be out for two to three more weeks.
A couple of days before the Vikings’ first game, Coach Dorr talked a bit about his team.
Besides the four seniors, he said his team is, “Pretty short on bench power, so the philosophy will be to slow the game down and let our defense work.”
Dorr said defensively the team would employ, “A mix of man-to-man and zone defenses.”
On offense the team will employ its spread offense and work patiently as they move the ball around the horn and look for good shots to open up.
“First two guys off the bench will be freshman Rory Bakke and a sophomore, Richie Furlong.
“The other starter will probably be sophomore Lars Scannell, who is still learning the game. Rory Bakke could end up being a starter. …. Our lack of depth and size could make for an interesting style of play,” Dorr said.
Up next for the Vikings is McGregor at home on Friday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. Esko comes to town on Thursday, December 13 with the game set to start at 4:45.
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