Above: Up, up and away! Lars Scannell (30) soared high over the Silver Bay Mariners’ defense to score two of his team-high 14 points in the Vikings’+6 opening Section 7A playoff win. Left: Jonny Jacobsen (40) in traffic, fought through to score two points for the Vikings against the Silver Bay Mariners. Jacobsen played a great all around game to help his team to the win.
The Cook County High School boys’ basketball team traveled to Esko on Friday, February 21 and lost to a very talented Esko Eskimos team by a score of 73-27.
Esko’s record is now 23-3 while the Vikings’ mark fell to 4-11.
“Esko was very tough,” said Head Coach Pat Eliasen
“There were just too many offensive weapons for us to effectively play with them. Every one of their starters can either shoot 3-pointers or drive to the basket with nightmarish precision,” Eliasen said.
The Vikings trailed 51-14 at halftime, but played a much better second half, said Eliasen
“We were down by 37 points at the half. They applied great pressure and their defense was very good. They effectively took us out of our post play and left it up to our perimeter players to score,” he said.
“In the second half we were a different team. We only allowed 22 points but were only able to muster another 13 of our own.
“We played much better defensively and held our turnovers to 19 for the game. I was happy with our second half play but we need to play a full 36 minutes of basketball to get anywhere in the playoffs,” said Eliasen.
Lars Scannell led the team in scoring with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Brandon Wick scored 8 points and had 12 rebounds while Jamie Wick had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Jonny Jacobsen finished with 3 points and had 5 rebounds.
Vikings beat Mariners 53-31
If ever there was a tale of two halves, this game was it. The Vikings opened Section 7A playoff basketball against the Silver Bay Mariners at home on Tuesday, February 25.
Although the Vikings had two wins over their nearest geographical rival, the second game was whisker-close at the half, and the Mariners didn’t seem one bit intimidated by the Vikings in this game as they worked their spread offense and played a smothering 2-3 zone defense.
Silver Bay led the Vikings much of the first half behind the shooting of their 6’2” center Michael Klofstad, who had a nice touch around the hoop. Meanwhile the Vikings stayed close, and finally went on a little run to go into the locker room up 27-22.
Lars Scannell got the Vikings going early in the second half with a steal and a 3-point basket to push the Viking lead to 8 points. Jonny Jacobsen followed with 2 points inside and Jamie Wick hit a 3-point basket and Scannell hit two more baskets and the Vikings were off to the races.
But if the Vikings’ offense came alive in the second juncture, it was mostly predicated on defense. They held Silver Bay scoreless for the first 11 minutes of play, shutting down the passes to Klofstad and effectively took him out of the game.
The Vikings held Silver Bay to 9 points for the second half and won 53-31.
Jonny Jacobsen led the way with numerous blocks, steals, 5 rebounds and he scored 13 points. Lars Scannell led the Vikings with 14 points and he pulled down 5 boards. Jamie Wick tallied 10 points and had 7 rebounds.
Seemingly quiet all night long, Brandon Curtis finished with a double double: 13 points and 15 rebounds. Guess we’re used to seeing him pull down 20 boards or more every game and when he doesn’t, it seems like he’s just out there playing defense.
Richie Furlong played all out and made several spectacular steals and saves on balls going out of bounds despite dealing with an injured left leg. He finished with 7 rebounds. Seth Warren had 2 rebounds, Lucas Phillips 2 points, Leo Johnson 1 rebound, Seth Warren 2 rebounds and Andy Farley had 1 rebound.
“Richie hit knee to knee with another player but he will be fine. Jonny suffered a small laceration to his forehead and will be fine as well,” said Coach Eliasen, adding that both players will be ready to play in the next playoff game.
At press time, the Vikings traveled to Duluth on Thursday, February 27 to face South Ridge on a neutral court. If they win they will play a Saturday game in Hibbing.
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