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The North Branch Vikings (9-9, 11-15) seeded #6 in the section 6AAA tournament, will take on #3 seed Fridley at Fridley at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 3.
Fridley finished the season second in the Metro Alliance Conference with a record of 17-8.
The two teams met on Dec. 21 and Fridley won, 56-40.
North Branch won 4 out of 5 of its last regular season games, defeating St. Francis, Foley, Big Lake and Zimmerman. The loss came at the hands of the 12-4 Princeton Tigers.
This is a team that has improved steadily throughout the season and may be hitting its stride at just the right time.
Coach Bill Baumann counts depth, hard work and aggressiveness as his team's strengths. Add balance to those qualities: different players have stepped up to lead the way in both scoring and defense at different points throughout the season. Matt Warren, Nick Perrin, Jake Chambers, Tony Beaver and Greg Moriarity are the nucleus of the scoring threat.
Baumann considers his team's lack of height to be its greatest weakness. No player is taller than 6' 2", and the Vikings have had to make up for that lack with hustle and aggressiveness.
"To be effective in the postseason you have to take each possession one at a time and execute on every possession. The victory usually goes to the team that commits the fewest mistakes," Baumann said.
The winner of Thursday night's game will play the winner of the Andover-Mahtomedi game at 8 p.m. on Mar. 8 at Irondale High School.
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