Despite tight defense, Ashley Deschampe (left) shoots and scores against an Ely defender last Saturday afternoon in their double-overtime win against the Timberwolves. Jessica Berg- Collman (middle) juked out her defender and scored on this lay-up and Breana Pederson (above right) drove the baseline and hit Bekah Laky with a nice pass, which Laky converted for two points in the win against Ely.
The Cook County girls’ basketball team made the long trip to Moose Lake-Willow River on Thursday, January 19 to face the 12-4 Rebels and their high-powered offense.
It would be a night of great defense versus great offense, and on this night the Vikings’ defense would prevail.
The Rebels took an early 5-0 lead before the Vikings clamped down and all but shut them out. Over the next 13 minutes the Vikings scored 23 points while holding the Rebels to one more basket. Theresa Morrin and Ashley Deschampe helped fuel that run with 7 points and 9 points each.
According to Head Coach T.J. Super, the Vikings used “great defense along with good passing and sharp shooting” to spur on their first half play.
Just before halftime the Rebels scored 5 points to chip into the Vikings’ lead, but Deschampe scored the last 9 points of the half to help send the Vikings into the locker room up 32-13.
The second half of play slowed down as the Vikings ate up the clock to preserve the win. Two players, Bekah Laky and Theresa Morrin, were each battling a bug, so the Vikings, Coach Super said, “We were happy to keep taking the seconds and minutes off of the clock.”
During that half, Morrin, despite not feeling well, added 10 more points. And Laky, ever the team player, along with eighthgrade center Lily Gruber-Schulz, each grabbed 8 rebounds for a game that saw the Vikings defeat a tough opponent 55-34.
Once again Ashley Deschampe led all players in scoring with 26 points. Morrin followed with 17, Laky had 8 and Jessica Berg-Collman netted 4 points.
Exciting double overtime win
Less than 12 hours after returning from Moose Lake/ Willow River, the Vikings laced up their tired sneakers, put on their uniforms and took the court at home to face the Ely Timberwolves, an opponent they lost to in the Ely Christmas tournament.
Ely’s strategy was clear: shut down Deschampe and work the clock as they patiently waited for just the right shot. It was effective if not boring, and Ely went into the break up 16-9.
Only three Viking players took shots in that half, and Theresa Morrin, the Vikings’ seconded leading scorer, was held to no points and four turnovers before they went into the locker room to rest and recoup.
Ely started out the second half by scoring the first 4 points, but Morrin, who always seems to play better in the second half, finally came alive and hit a 3-pointer and made two layups on nice drives to the basket. Deschampe also hit a 3-point basket in this stretch, her only 3-point basket of the night, and the Vikings were right back in the thick of things.
Ely took its turn next and scored the next couple of baskets to go up 28-21. Then the Vikings reeled off 8 straight points—a couple of those buckets coming off the nice post moves of forward Bekah Laky—to take its first lead of the game.
In the next five minutes the lead changed five times. It looked like the Vikings would end it in regulation time when Morrin scored a lay-up on a nice backdoor pass from Lily Gruber- Schulz, giving the Vikings a 1-point lead.
With 7 seconds left, the Vikings got one more point on a free throw but Ely’s Emily Muvich scored a 2-point basket on a 15-footer to tie the game as the clock ran out.
The first overtime saw Ely working the clock, taking several minutes off of it before Muhvich once again scored a tough shot in the lane to give Ely a 2-point lead.
But Deschampe took the ball the length of the court and drove for the basket and got fouled. The steady senior calmly sank both of her free throws and the score was again tied.
The next play saw sophomore guard Jessica Berg-Collman stand out on defense again. Jessica made another in a long line of great defensive stops when she stole the ball and fed it to Deschampe who took a 3-pointer that could have ended the game, but the ball fell short as time expired once again.
In the second overtime Vikings’ inside players Bekah Laky and Lily Gruber-Schulz scored back-to-back baskets to give the Vikings a 4-point lead. With Ely down, the Timberwolves had to foul and once again the girls were ice from the line, going 7-8 to secure a 47-43 win.
This was the fifth win in a row for the Vikings and only the second loss for the Timberwolves, who now sport a 12-2 record. The Vikings are now 10-5 on the year and 5-2 in the Polar League conference.
For the game Ashley Deschampe led all scorers with 22 points, one point off of her conference-leading 23-point game average. Morrin followed with 12 points, Laky had 8, Berg- Collman, 2, Gruber-Schulz, 2, and Leah Utities, 1.
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