What does a 19-2 basketball team look like? Here they are, front row from L-R: Paul Dorr, Tate Crawford, Isaac Sandstrom, and Jacob Dorr. Back row L-R: Daunte Deschampe, Vaughn Swindlehurst, Coach Jacobsen, Kewadin Pierre, and Caide Northrup.
The middle school Vikings’ boys’ basketball team put together a tremendous basketball season with a record of 19 wins and 2 losses. You could call it “A Season To Remember.”
These guys love to play ball and they were an exciting bunch to watch. In most games we were the smallest team on the floor in physical size and bench numbers, but what they gave up for in height and numbers they made up for in heart and hustle. These young men came to play ball with a lot of energy. They were known for their scrappy and hard-nosed play. They had a desire to learn and were very coachable. As a coach you couldn’t ask for more.
Teamwork was the goal and as the season progressed this team learned to play that way. Unselfishness was a trademark of this bunch and it showed on the court. Looking for their open teammate was common play. Another goal was to play good defense. Defense is an attitude thing, and these guys learned to play with that attitude. Good defense kept us close in ball games throughout the season.
Occasionally fans would ask me who were the leading scorers and I noticed that we had pretty balanced scoring all season. The balanced attack made it hard for teams to shut us down.
The team was made up of four eighth graders, Vaughn Swindlehurst, Caide Northrup, Kewadin Pierre, and Tate Crawford; three seventh grader, Isaac Sandstrom, Jacob Dorr and Daunte Deschampe; and two sixth graders, Derek Smith and Paul Dorr. We started the season with nine players and ended with eight. We lost Derek to a rib injury.
If I could sum up our season in a sentence I would say, “These guys love to play basketball, and they were fun to watch.”
On April 1 we will be playing in a Pacesetter Tournament in Hibbing, Minnesota. This will be your last chance to see this group play together this year.
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