Left: With his“eyes on the prize,” Rory Bakke ignored the defense around him and scored 2 of his 13 points against Northeast Range. Above: Jared Spry (No. 24) had a tall order when he shot over this defensive player from McGregor. Spry scored 5 points in the game.
Marcus Logan and Rory Bakke helped lead the Cook County Vikings to a 45-31 win over the Northeast Range Nighthawks last Thursday night, January 22, at home.
It was the Vikings’ second win of the season coming against eight defeats.
Logan, a rangy sophomore guard scored 9 points, had at least 5 steals, and threw several beautiful no-look passes to teammates who weren’t always ready to catch them, but they were fun to see coming from a young Viking guard.
As for Bakke, the scrappy junior guard put together a great game, scoring 13 points while playing tough defense all night long.
Five Viking players scored the Vikings’ first 21 points—Bakke got things started with a 3-point shot that hit nothing but net. Sam O’Phelan followed with a basket from 5 feet out and then Jamie “Jammer” Wick hit a 3-point shot. Lucas Phillips scored a basket in close before Bakke hit two free throws and then Logan scored the next 9 points. Before you knew it the Vikings were up 30-11 and it was halftime.
The Vikings added a nice wrinkle in the first half, throwing a half court trap against the Nighthawks when they were up 21-8. The move worked, disrupting the Nighthawks who were starting to come back on them.
During the second half the Vikings seemed to let up a bit, only scoring 15 points while giving up 21. Some of that was due to inexperience and rushing plays when they needed to settle down and set up their offense. In the end it didn’t matter, the Vikings had too much rebounding power and defense for the Northeast Range Nighthawks.
Jamie Wick had another solid game, finishing with 9 points while Sam O’Phelan scored 7 points. Lucas Phillips finished with 6 points and Mike Burton scored 1 point on a free throw near the end of the game to end the Vikings’ scoring. Andy Farley didn’t score but was a force on defense, and he battled hard under the basket for offensive and defensive rebounds all night long.
“Northeast Range was a good win for us. The guys really needed a little payoff for all of the hard work that they have been putting in,” said Head Coach Pat Eliasen.
Vikings lose to McGregor
Playing the next night at home, the Vikings couldn’t quite pull off another win, although the game was competitive throughout.
The Vikings trailed early by 7 points, but whittled the Mercs’ lead to one, 15-14, before McGregor substituted in Jordan Mickelson, a small guard who quickly hit three 3-point shots in a row. The Vikings never got close again and fell by 16 points 58-42.
Once again Rory Bakke led the Vikings in scoring with11 points. Jamie Wick 8, Marcus Logan 7, Sam O’Phelan 6, Andy Farley 4, Jerod Spry 5, and Lucas Phillips 1, ended the Vikings scoring.
Mickelson hit six 3-pointers while scoring a career high 22 points to lead the Mercs.
“I was hoping to keep the streak going but it ended quickly with McGregor,” said Coach Eliasen. “We’re getting better every week and it’s beginning to show here and there on the court. Our shooting percentage is low and that needs to improve if we’re to win games down the stretch. We have to cut our turnovers down significantly and that’s a very welcome aspect of our game.”
Vikings lose to Mesabi East
On Tuesday, January 27 the Vikings played Mesabi East and lost by 18 points, 75-57, although they made it interesting in the second half.
“We ran into a hot shooter, Wyatt Becicka. He is a 5-foot, 10-inch senior guard who just killed us. Every time we would make a run at them he would go down and score, hit a lay-up or a 3-pointer. He ended up with 32 points on the night,” said Assistant Coach Rick Crawford.
The Vikings were down by 15 at halftime but pulled to within 8 points with 8 minutes left.
“I really thought we were going to close the gap and catch them at that point,” Crawford said. “But then Wyatt took off and we couldn’t contain him. He was the deal breaker in this game.”
The Vikings were 17-59 from the field, hitting 28 percent of their shots.
Rory Bakke led the Vikings with 18 points and 3 rebounds. Jamie Wick scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds while Marcus Logan had 11 points and 2 boards. Andy Farley hit for 8 points and had 3 boards and Sam O’Phelan scored 5 points and finished with 7 rebounds while Lucas Phillips ended with 2 points and had 5 boards.
“Rory has really come on for us the last five games or so. He’s making good decisions with the ball, playing tough defense. Jamie ‘Jammer’ Wick has been golden all season long. We have an efficiency rating and game in and game out he’s our most efficient player. We can count on him every single game to go out and do a good job for the team,” said Crawford.
The Vikings’ next home game is February 6 against last year’s 2A state champions, the Esko Eskimos. The game will start at 6:30 p.m.
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