Far left: Showing off her ball handling skills, Vikings’ center Emily Jacobsen cuts to the basket against the Mariners. Jacobsen scored 24 points in the game. Above: Alyssa Spry (25) looks for a teammate to pass. Left: Jadzia Crow puts up a shot against the Silver Bay Mariners.
Sophie Eliasen scored a team-high 25 points in the Vikings’ opening game loss to the Duluth Marshall Hilltoppers in the Two Harbors Tournament played December 29.
The Vikings trailed 30-21 at halftime and despite making some small runs in the second half, could never quite catch up and lost a hard fought contest 62-51.
Gianna Kneepkens led the Hilltoppers with 15 points.
Abbie Crawford scored 11 points, Emily Jacobsen 9, Sarah Toftey 3, Hannah Toftey 2, and Bayley Cox 1 to round out the team scoring. Crawford, like Eliasen, also had three 3-pointers in the game.
Two Harbors beat Ogilvie 80-57 on Thursday to set up a championship game with Duluth Marshall the next day, which the Agates won 65-52.
On Friday the Vikings took the floor against Ogilvie in the consolation match, falling behind at halftime before rallying to win 53-38.
“The girls played tough at times and then had some mental lapses,” said head coach Kelly Senty, “but we were able to work through those and fight back to win after trailing at the half.”
Emily Jacobsen came up big for the Vikings, netting 24 points and leading the team to the win. Sarah Toftey scored 8 points, Abbie Crawford 8, Sophie Eliasen 6, Hannah Totfey 5, and Bayley Cox made 2 points to end the team scoring.
Coach Senty brought the junior varsity to the tournament, and they competed against Marshall and Silver Bay, coming away with victories in each game. Of the JV, Senty said, “The JV played team basketball, passing well and running the transition. They are starting to get a good feel for one another, and I am impressed with their overall team play.”
Girls sink Mariners
The Vikings defeated the Silver Bay Mariners 56-25 at home on January 3.
We played many younger kids off the bench including Alyssa Spry (9th graders), Zoe Nonnemacher (8th grader), Arianna Poyirier (8th grader), and Jadzia Crow (10th grader),” said head coach Kelly Senty. “They got some quality minutes on the varsity bench which will be important down the road for depth.
“We had 15 turnovers the first half (our goal per game -not half – is 10 or less). So we really focused on taking care of the basketball the second half. We set a goal of 5 or less turnovers the second half, and had 6, which is good considering the amount of time the younger athletes played.
“Overall we had a much better second half defensively and taking care of the basketball.”
The Vikings led 29-12 at the half. Sophie Eliasen hit a 3-point shot early in the second half followed by 2-point baskets by Emily Jacobsen, Maya McHugh, and Eliasen to push the Viking lead to 40-14. At that point coach Senty started substituting liberally.
Jacobsen led the team with 24 points. Eliasen netted 11, Sarah Toftey 6, Hannah Toftey 6, McHugh 6, Poyirier 6, and Spry scored 1 point.
The Vikings’ next home game is against Floodwood on January 13 at 6:30 p.m. Come out and cheer for your Vikings!
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