Posted: 2/11/05
By Cynthia Scott
The North Branch boys split a pair of conference games last week, losing to Milaca 34-46 and defeating Pine City 48-44.
The Vikings are now 6-7 in the conference and sit squarely in the middle of the pack as the regular season moves into the home stretch.
The Vikings had a hot hand to begin the Milaca game and held a 16-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
But a deadly consistency then set in, and North Branch scored only 6 points in each of the next three quarters.
ìWeíve really been struggling offensively the last five games and the Milaca game was no exception,î said Coach Bill Baumann. ìWe havenít been moving with any authority on offense and we havenít been shooting with any confidence.
ìWeíve been playing good defense and to only allow 46 points we should have a chance to win. All we needed to do was hit a couple of baskets and I thik we would have been all right.î
Scoring doldrums continued into the early minutes of the contest against Pine City. The Vikings failed to score for the first five minutes of the game, but solid defense kept them within striking distance through the first three quarters.
And then the lid came off the basket in the fourth quarter, aided by key steals by Matt Warren, Jake Chambers and Tony Beaver. The Vikings poured in 23 points in the final frame while holding the Dragons to only 11.
ìGive the kids crredit, they all played hard. I think our depth was a big advantage in the fourth quarter. We seemed pretty fresh and we still had the extra bounce in our step,î Baumann said.
Up next: Feb. 10 at STMA, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 15 v. Zimmerman, 7:30 p.m.
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