Even though Ryan Martinson (3) didn’t get this rebound, he dominated play underneath in the game against Mountain Iron- Buhl. Kale Boomer, who can barely be seen in the picture, grabbed this rebound while both David Bergstrom (21) and Will Petty (33) were ready to crash the boards. The Vikings employ a “team” rebounding philosophy, which often results in them getting more rebounds than taller opponents.
Good action movies suck you in early with an interesting plot, and then set you up for a great finish that leaves you hanging on for dear life at the end.
That pretty much describes the boys’ game played against Cromwell last Friday, Dec. 17 at home. It had all of the drama and excitement of any great movie, and an ending that left one team heartbroken while one team sighed a deep sigh of relief.
After 20 minutes of hard work the Viking boys’ basketball team had scored 9 points at halftime.
Nine!
Now nine might be the number one fantasizes about seeing on his golf scorecard after nine holes of play, but it isn’t a number that any basketball team wants to put on the board.
Luckily, the Vikings also played stingy defense, holding Cromwell to a measly 18 points.
But the whole flow of the game changed early in the second half.
Instead of playing back on their heels and having Cromwell dictate the flow of the game, the Vikings went into a full court press that completely changed the game’s tempo and their fortunes.
Colin Everson got off a quick shot over two defenders in the boys’ game against Mountain Iron-Buhl played Monday, Dec. 20 at home. Everson had a great game, leading the team with 7 assists and played his usual great defense. The team won 57-40.
The results were immediate. Every dribble was challenged. Every Cardinal passing lane seemingly had a Viking in it ready to intercept a pass. It was chaos for the Cardinals, and the ball became—over and over again—an early Christmas present for the Vikings.
Even when the Vikings didn’t score off turnovers, they completely disrupted the Cromwell boys’ offense and rarely let them set up their defense.
Ryan Martinson scored several key baskets to bring the team to within two points of the Cardinals with 10 minutes to play.
With six minutes left the Vikings took a 30-28 lead. David Bergstrom hit several short jumpers in this stretch, with everything coming his way thanks to the smothering team defense the Vikings were playing. Kale Boomer also snuck inside and rebounded an errant Viking shot and put it in for an easy two.
The Vikings went up 33-30 and had several chances to put some real distance between them and their determined foes, but couldn’t sink their free throws.
Cromwell’s Jake Ramberg, a husky 6’1” forward, kept the Cardinals close with his soft touch around the hoop.
Ramberg often scored on rebounds, using his bulk to clear out the Vikings.
With eight seconds to play and leading 36-34, the Cardinals star quarterback on their nineman state championship football team, Jordan Suhonen, inexplicitly threw the ball out of bounds on an inbound play. No one was anywhere near Suhonen’s pass and a look of agony spread across his face. It seemed the game was over. But two seconds later the Cardinals got the ball back and had a chance to win or tie, depending upon whether they opted for a three-point shot or a two-point shot.
Suhonen had a chance to redeem himself. But it wasn’t to be on this night, as he took a wild shot from about 16 feet out in front of the basket that clanked off of the backboard as time ran off the clock.
The Viking fans cheered loudly and the Viking players made sure to congratulate the Cromwell boys on a tough game.
Leading scorers for the Vikings were Ryan Martinson and David Bergstrom with 11 points each. Kale Boomer finished with 6 points, Dylan Quaife had 5 points and Colin Everson chipped in 3 points.
Head coach Mitch Dorr was happy with the win but not too happy with some of the play on the court. “I thought we played very, very poorly on offense. We didn’t take care of the ball very well and made way too many turnovers.
“In the second half with our offense struggling, we decided to put on the full court press and force the tempo of the game. Each time we got a steal we encouraged our guys to go and push the ball up the court. It worked out as we scored a lot of baskets in transition off of steals.”
The coach praised the play of his two young guards. “Colin and Kale, our two sophomore guards, played incredible. Kale had 8 assists while Colin had 11 rebounds. Both had tremendous games on defense. Kale handled the ball all night long and only had one turnover.
“Our guys showed they are resilient. They also showed they have bought into playing defense. Each year, we, [Cook County] are known for our defense. Thisgroup is taking it to the next level. Cromwell had 30 turnovers in the game. We had 20 turnovers and that was what made our comeback so difficult.
“I love coaching this group of young men. Theyhave heart and character…a great combination,” Dorr said.
As for this fan, it took a good 20 minutes for my heart rate to slow back to normal. And like a good movie, people who saw this game will talk about it for quite some time.
Boys beat Mountain Iron-
Buhl 57-40
Just a few days later, the Vikings got fans’ hearts pumping again when they got off to a quick lead against Mountain Iron-Buhl (MIB), and never let the Rangers in the game.
The boys played MIB on Monday, Dec. 20 at home.
“Senior Ryan Martinson really stepped it up on offense and showed us the way, scoring 21 points,” said Coach Dorr.
Martinson, who stands 6’4”, used a two-inch height advantage and his leaping ability to pretty much score when he wanted to in close.
TheVikings led 35-17 at halftime and kept the lead at about 20 points the rest of the way. Once again the team’s defensive pressure, whether it was man-to-man or a trapping zone or full court press, disrupted the offensive intentions of their opponents.
For the game Colin Everson had 7 assists and David Bergstrom and Martinson each pulled down 11 boards.
Kale Boomer had another outstanding game at point guard, handling the pressure of taking the ball up court on his dribble, and finding the open man with his crisp passes.
“Our passing was much better because we only turned the ball over 14 times compared to over 20 on Friday night against Cromwell.” Dorr said.
Because of the Vikings’ aggressive approach to team rebounding the boys hauled down 41 boards compared to MIB’s 19 rebounds.
The Vikings played Silver Bay on Tuesday, Dec. 21 in Silver Bay. The next home game will be played against Lakeview Christian Academy on Jan 4 at 6:30. Go Vikes!
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