Vikes remain undefeated in RRC,
Win streak extends to 6 in a row
By Danielle Strenke The North Branch boys basketball squad scored 14 points in under two minutes of play to quiet the Zimmerman Thunder in a big 85-39 win last Tuesday. Senior Jake Anderson started the scoring with a three-pointer in the opening minute of the game, and the margin was as close as Zimmerman would come to North Branch through the rest of the game. Senior Britt Baumann hit 3 three-pointers in such rapid succession during the first period that a distracted fan may have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. North Branch eased to a 13-0 lead before the Thunder put 2 on the board. The Vikes led 24-6 after one quarter, despite shooting only 38 percent from the inside. The squad tallied 5 three-pointers in the second quarter for a comfortable 55-21 lead at the half. The Thunder improved slightly in the second, scoring 15 to the Vikings 31. A relentless Viking defense continued to force turnovers throughout the second half, while the offense capitalized on the Thunderís mistakes. The Vikes led 72-25 after three quarters, allowing the fourth quarter to be led by bench players. A total of 12 players scored for North Branch, led by seniors Matt Fletcher with 17 and Britt Baumann with 15. Anderson added 11. ìWe were playing short handed so this was a good game for us to get a lot of our younger players some work,î said head coach Bill Baumann. ìOf the 14 players that played in the game, 12 scored.î Zimmerman is still new to the conference and is a young team, but Baumann said he wanted to use the game against Zimmerman as a learning experience and thatís just what happened. ìWe had some things we wanted to work on and we had a great opportunity to just that,î Baumann said. ìWe really didn't shoot the ball well at the beginning of the game but then we heated up and put a lot of points on the board from late in the first quarter to the half,î he said. ìWe wanted to get back to pushing the ball up the court and it really paid off in the first half.î The Vikings would not back off the drive against Zimmerman during the game, but they continued to remember to work together as a team, Baumann said. ìAgain we were very unselfish as we had 23 assists for the game. It shows were are working well as a team and finding the open player,î Baumann said. ìWe also took very good care of the ball as we only had three turnovers for the game.î North Branch 68 Big Lake 51
From the opening jump ball, the Vikings opened up on the Hornets and did not relent. After Big Lake scored the first two points of the night, North Branch players got fired up. ìThey got the first bucket and we came down and Matt Fletcher converted a three point play,î Baumann said.
Britt Baumann followed up that conversion by hitting a solid three-pointer. Britt Baumann and Fletcher traded points for a while as Fletcher repeated Britt Baumannís three. Matt Nelson got in his two cents and dropped a bomb on the Hornets. Both Fletcherís and Nelsonís field baskets were assisted by Jake Anderson. Tony Beaver followed with a couple of inside baskets and the Vikes took control of the game.
ìThis was one of the gutsiest performances I have ever seen by a team,î coach Baumann said. ìWe were starting short handed and things got worst in the first quarter when Tony Beaver dislocated his shoulder and we ended up with some foul trouble.î Bowie McClaskie, who had suited up as an emergency fill-in since his break from a sprained ankle, had little warm-up time, but Baumann had no choice and pushed McClaskie into the game. The option worked for the Vikes as McClaskie went on to snare eight rebounds and played ìgreat defense,î Baumann said. Matt Fletcher had 36 points but only shot as many times as he usually does. ìIn fact two of the shots he missed he got his own rebound and put it back in,î Baumann said. Junior Greg Moriarty played his most minutes of the year and really excelled, especially on defense. Jake Anderson and Matt Nelson also played outstanding, Baumann said. ìI hope we can build off this performance for the rest of the year,î the coach added. ìWe were looking for a game like this to give us some momentum.î The team faces Princeton at home at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.
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