With his young team gathered around him, Coach Mitch Dorr discusses strategy and designs a play for his kids to run. Coach Dorr has been playing all of the kids on the roster this year and the team is getting better and better although their win-loss record might not always indicate it.
The Viking girls’ basketball team had two away games on the road the past week, one at Moose Lake/ Willow River on January 31 and one at Two Harbors on February 3.
Although the young Viking girls lost both games, they continue to improve their play on the floor, said Head Coach Mitch Dorr.
“We were down 31-11 at the half to Moose Lake and the girls experienced their first Coach Dorr blow-up at halftime,” said head coach Mitch Dorr.
“They came out of the locker room for the second half and played tremendous basketball, cutting Moose Lake’s lead to 5 points with three minutes left. We ended up losing by 8 points, 46-38, but the girls realized they could play with Moose Lake and they can beat Moose Lake if they can get it going earlier. So far this year we are a strong second half team and terrible first half team,” Dorr said.
“We also need to take care of the ball better. We turned the ball over 32 times against Moose Lake and gave up 17 offensive rebounds. Think about it. They had the ball 49 more times than we did and we only lost by 8 points.”
Just a freshman, Essance Haines is a strong player who has a lot of skills, handling the ball being one of them. Essance is one of nine freshmen who play on the varsity this season in what is a rebuilding year for the Vikings.
Breanna Peterson led Viking scorers with 21 points. Lily Gruber-Schulz finished with 15 points and Hanna Toftey played a great floor game at guard, Dorr said.
Vikings fall 50-46 to Two Harbors
Once again the Vikings were down early, trailing Two Harbors 13-3 after eight minutes of play, and once again the team had a hole to dig out of, but this time they came back, nearly stealing the game from the Agates.
“We played a tremendous second half. Once this team figures out how to put two good halves together, they will start to have a lot of fun,” Dorr said.
The Vikings took a 38-37 lead with six minutes to play and essentially played even up with the Agates until the last 38 seconds.
“We were down 46-47, trailing by one point and had the ball but couldn’t score. Two Harbors made their foul shots and beat us 50-46,” said Dorr.
“Breanna Peterson played her heart out. She scored 24 points and literally left everything on the floor. With 15 seconds left she had her fifth foul and had an asthma attack. She had nothing left. I can’t say enough about her play and leadership,” Dorr said.
“Suzy Burton also had a great game. She finished with 12 rebounds and had six steals. Hannah Toftey also continues to impress. She hit a big 3 pointer early and had a basket late in the game for us that was crucial. She played 27 minutes.
“Lily Gruber-Schulz finished with 12 points. She’s struggling a little bit with her shot right now, but she’ll work through it and will be fine,” Dorr said.
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