Posted: 3/8/06
ëYoung Guns IIí down Chisago Lakes, Totino Grace
 North Branch senior Travis Peterson shoots a fade away shot against Chisago Lakes, Feb. 28. The Vikings play the Wildcats in the first round of playoffs March 9 in North Branch. |
By Steve Morris
In the last minute of regulation play Chisago Lakes Tyler Bouwen swooshed a ëmake the crowd go wildí three to close the gap to three. However, Bouwens last minute sharp shooting wasnít enough to push the Wildcats to victory.
The North Branch boyís basketball team defeated Chisago Lakes Feb. 28, 56-54 at home.
After Bouwenís three, the Wildcats immediately fouled and sent Vikings Travis Peterson to the freethrow line to shoot the double bonus.
Peterson made the first and missed the second to give the Vikings a two point lead. The Wildcats gained possession of the ball with 11.6 seconds remaining.
Chisago Lakes was unable to set up a play and Chris Golv shot a rushed three that clanked off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.
ìI had a good angle on the last shot and from where I was sitting it looked right on line,î head Vikings coach Bill Baumann said.
The Vikings were led in scoring by sophomore forward Jake Chambers who scored 17 points on six of nine shooting in 29 minutes of play.
Neither team was able to pull away. The largest lead by the Vikings was seven points. In addition, there were four ties and five lead changes.
ìGive Chisago Lakes credit, they didnít quit and kept coming after us right until the buzzer,î Baumann said.
North Branch made the wildcats work on defense by passing the ball several times each possession before taking a shot. Baumann says his younger squad, which consists of seven sophomores and one senior, is still learning what a good shot is.
The Vikings are so young, Baumann refers to his team as ìThe Young Guns II.î (six years ago he coached a similar team of young players which he called ìThe Young Gunsî.)
The Wildcatís will have another shot at the Vikings, only this time more than a record is on the line. No. 4 seed North Branch plays No. 5 Chisago Lakes in the section quarter finals March 9 at 7 p.m. in North Branch.
A STRONG FINISH
On Friday March 3 the Vikings finished off their regular season with a 63-69 victory over Totino Grace.
Neither team was able to take a control of the game. Their were 19 lead changes and 11 ties during the 36-minute battle. However, North Branch scored 14 points off turnovers and dominated the offensive glass to help secure the win. John Lindstrom led the Vikings with 16 points and six rebounds.
The Vikings attacked the boards hard against the Eagles. For the game they had 26 offensive rebounds that resulted in 23 second chance points.
ìWe were relentless on the glass even though we were really out-sized,î Baumann said.
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