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Vikes notch two more wins as season moves into final weeksBy Danielle Strenke The North Branch boys basketball squad faced a tall St. Francis team last Tuesday but was able to overcome the height difference with an overwhelming defense to earn the 56-43 win. The Vikes then went on to defeat Pine City 73-53 Feb. 13 in a big Rum River Conference game. Both teams played tough defense through the first half of the first quarter, with North Branch taking the 8-2 lead and eventually the 17-4 lead after one quarter. Senior Matt Fletcher notched 10 points in the quarter including 2 three-pointers. ìWe started out playing good defense and we were very patient on offense which let us get off to a good start,î Head Coach Bill Baumann said. The Vikes went ahead 19-4 in the second before ending it at 27-15 at the half. St. Francis went on a run in the third quarter, closing the gap to 31-26 at one point. Baumann said the Saints were determined to shut down the Vikesí outside game. ìWe were really patients and got some good looks inside in the second half,î Baumann said. The Vikes led 43-28 after three quarters and were outscored 15-13 in the final quarter for the 56-43 win. Baumann said the team is continually confronted with being ìvertically challengedî so it must accommodate for its lack in height. ìWe have been really conscious of taking care of the basketball and helping each other out on defense,î he said. ìWe need to keep improving each game.î Three players were in double figures in a 73-53 win over Pine City. North Branch lurched ahead 23-12 after one quarter. The scoring for the Vikes included 7 three-pointers in the quarter ñ 3 from Fletcher, 2 from Baumann, 1 from Nelson and 1 from senior Jake Anderson. Anderson and Baumann added 2 more three-pointers each in the second quarter for a 37-23 Vikings lead at the half. ìWe finally got our offense back on as we found the range,î Baumann said. ìWe had been struggling for the last couple of games to get some consistency. Hopefully this will put us back on track.î He said the team was off at times defensively, but is confident they will get back on track. North Branch added 16 in the third and 20 in the fourth to seal the 73-53 win. Six players scored for North Branch, including Fletcher with 26 points, Baumann with 22, Anderson with 14, Nelson with 7 and sophomore Matt Warren and junior Tony Beaver with 2 each. ìIt was nice to see Jake Anderson and Britt Baumann hitting some shots as it will take some of the burden off Matt Fletcher,î Baumann said. He said the team roster is now back to full strength and it will be important to get that continuity back as the team heads into its last four games of the regular season. ìBowie McClaskie, Greg Moriarty and Ben Stenberg are starting to settle into their roles,î Baumann said. ìMatt Nelson is becoming more comfortable and Tony Beaver continues to do all the little things for us.î We had been getting away with some pretty basic mistakes in some of our past games but our schedule has toughened up with the last three games and we are starting to execute better,î Baumann said. ìThat is good because we will have to be executing well by tournament time.î The team continues to hold down first place in the RRC with a 13-0 record. The remaining four games come against RRC foes St. Michael-Albertville, Zimmerman, Big Lake and Foley. The Vikes defeated all four squads in earlier meetings this season. This week, the team was scheduled to host Milaca Tuesday and hosts STMA Fri., Feb. 20 before traveling to face Zimmerman Tues., Feb. 24. The team rounds out the regular season schedule with games Feb. 27 against Big Lake and March 5 against Foley. Both are home games for the Vikings. ©ECM Post Review |