A great off-season dedicated to refining his basketball skills paid off for Viking junior forward Will Ramberg, who put up some big offensive numbers and rebounding totals for the boys’ basketball team this year. Ramberg scored 18 points in the Vikings’ win over the Northland Eagles.
Riding the hot hand of Trusen Gordon, the Cook County Vikings got off to a big lead against the Northland (Remer) Eagles on Tuesday, March 6 in a home Section 7A play-in game.
The game was initially scheduled to be played on Monday in Grand Marais but was canceled due to high winds and snow that mostly hit the Duluth area.
Gordon scored 17 points in the first half, as the Vikings took a commanding 44-13 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
The Eagles went on a 10-2 run early in the second half behind two 3-point shots of their seventh-grade guard, Alex Wake, but the Vikings were never in trouble in the contest, winning 74-43, despite missing way too many foul shots.
The Vikings outscored the Eagles 32-31 in the second half as the Eagles rebounded much better in the last half of the game.
Head coach Mitch Dorr played a lot of different players, resting his starters who had to get ready to face the Lakeview Christian Lions the next day on a neutral court in Proctor. The Vikings lost to the Lions by 10 points earlier in the season, so the game, at least on paper, should have been a good one.
Trusen led the team in scoring with 19 points. Will Ramberg finished with 18 points, Jordan Porter had 16 points, Pete Sutton 8, Dyami Blackwell 6, Devon Premo 3, Tate Crawford had 2 points, and Austin Lincoln finished with 2 points.
Interesting to note, Blackwell scored his three baskets in a row early in the second half of the game to net 6 points.
Northland, 3-24, finished with no players scoring in double figures.
Vikings lose to the Lions
Playing on tired legs and traveling 120 miles by bus, the Vikings fell 77-50 to the Lakeview Christian Lions in Proctor.
“It was obvious that the kids were tired,” said head coach Mitch Dorr. “But let’s give Lakeview credit. They played a very good ball game.”
Will Ramberg led the team with 14 points; Pete Sutton had 10; Jordon Porter 8, Dyami Blackwell 7, Trusen Gordon 6, Adam Dorr 3, and Devon Premo 2.
“This was the first time in 20 years that we didn’t say goodbye to a senior at the end of the season,” said coach Dorr. “Everyone is coming back.
“The kids learned a lot this year. We are going to meet on Monday and go over things they can do to get better in the off-season. If they put in the work, they are going to be very good next year. But five teams in the area are going to go in the off-season knowing the same thing. It’s the team that actually works the hardest that will have the best result.”
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