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Vikes finish 4th at Simley Tournament

The Vikings girls basketball team defeated Blake before falling to Academy of Holy Angels and Visitation to take fourth place in the 8-team Simley Tournament Dec. 27-30.
After defeating Blake 57- 47 in the first game, North Branch faced Holy Angels in the semi-finals.
The Vikes outscored Holy Angels in the first three quarters, taking a 44-33 lead into the final quarter.
ìWe just made some little mistakes in the fourth quarter and Holy Angels really stepped up their game,î Head Coach Dan Schindler said. ìThey hit 4 three-pointers from four different players. We had plenty of chances to win. We just need learn to do the little things that will put us over the hump to win close games.î
Schindler gave credit to the Holy Angels squad for stepping up its offense to ìshoot the lights outî in the fourth quarter. ìWhen they started to hit those three-pointers we couldnít stop their momentum,î Schindler said.
Holy Angels scored the winning basket with 12 seconds left to secure the 54-53 win. The Holy Angels squad went on to win the championship by defeating Simley in the title game.
North Branch was led by junior Jenny Anderson with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Freshman Gabrielle Olson added 12 and Katie Hasleiet 11.
The Vikes lost 47-40 to Visitation in the third place game Dec. 30.
ìThis was a tough match up for us because Visitation is a very physical team,î Schindler said.
Visitation took the 25-16 edge at the half. North Branch was was able to close the gap to 3 at 39-36 with just over a minute left in the game, but missed a key basket that would have put them back into contention.
ìI was really pleased with our effort in that fourth quarter,î Schindler said. ìIt would have been easy for us to quit being down 15, but we battled and had a chance at the end.î
He was pleased with the effort of junior Megan Stegmeir, who played her best game of the season with 6 points and 3 steals. ìMegan can do some nice things for us and she is starting to be more aggressive on the court,î Schindler said.
Anderson set a tournament record by scoring 27 points and had 13 rebounds. For the three-game tournament, she had 59 points and 34 rebounds and was named to the all-tournament team. Olson added 6 points in the game and had 9 rebounds.
ìWe were hoping to pick up another win, but I am pleased with how hard the girls are working,î Schindler said. ìIf we continue to work hard and can cut down on some of the little things we do wrong, I thing we can have a very successful second half of the season.î
The Vikes are 4-6 overall this season. This week, the squad was scheduled to face Spring Lake Park Tuesday, and then begin a Rum River Conference schedule starting with Milaca Friday, Jan. 9 at home, and Pine City Jan. 13 on the road.

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