Inset: Head coach Kelly Senty gives her team some no-nonsense instructions during a timeout. Right: Emily Jacobsen (No. 42), trailed by Sarah Toftey, goes in strong for a lay-up in a recent home game.
After suffering a tough last-second loss to Mesabi East, the Vikings had little time to recover before boarding a bus and traveling to Wrenshall on Friday, January 29 to play the Wrens on a floor that has been difficult for them to win on. The gym is small, dark and has never been kind to Viking teams.
“The girls mentioned to me that historically Wrenshall is a tough place for them to play,” said Head Coach Kelly Senty. “We talked about writing a new story when playing at Wrenshall.”
The first chapter of that story resulted in the Vikings using their stingy defense to cause turnovers, which they converted into points. The Vikings led 33-23 at halftime and kept the pedal to the metal the second half, outscoring the Wrens 38-29 to finish the first part of what will continue to be a longer story in the coming years with a 71-52 victory.
With the win the Vikings’ record is now 8-4 on the season.
“Lily [Gruber-Schulz] and Shauna [Blake] had their high scores of the season, Lily with 28 points and Shauna with 7 points,” Senty said.
The last couple of games Viking forward Shauna Blake has begun shooting the ball from about 10-15 feet out, which pulls the defense away from the inside and allows Gruber-Schulz and Emily Jacobsen easier chances to score inside which is a nice plus considering teams are starting to collapse their defenses inside to stop the Vikings’ offense.
The Vikings have also worked hard to cut down on turnovers, and it too is showing in the box score.
“We had four turnovers the first half so we took good care of the basketball,” Senty said.
Gruber-Schulz ended her night with 28 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 6 blocked shots. Jacobsen finished with 20 points, 8 boards, 1 assist and 2 steals. Blake had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal while Sophie Eliasen had 9 points, 7 rebounds and 1 steal. Hannah Toftey had 5 points, 2 rebounds and Sarah Toftey finished with 2 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
Delany Kittel’s 23 points led Wrenshall.
“I would say we have started to rewrite the story with having only four turnovers in the first half and having two athletes get their season high score,” said Senty.
The Vikings travel to Esko on Friday, February 5 to face the Eskimos than come home the following Friday on February 12 to play Moose Lake/ Willow River at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer on your Vikings!
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