By Steve Morris

Senior center Tiffany Good had a double-double and helped her team upset the No. 10 rated team in the state as the Vikings slipped past St. Louis Park by five points, 62-57 on Jan. 30.

After starting off the season 1-5, the Vikings girls basketball team has been playing like a well-oiled machine and have won seven of their last eight games.

Head coach Dan Schindler said the game against St. Louis Park was his team's best game of the season.

"We played 36 minutes of good solid basketball. We took great shots and our defense was just superb on their better players," he said.

North Branch held St. Louis Park's top scorer to a mere seven points all game. Earlier in the season, the same player had 18 points at halftime. The Vikings lost to St. Louis Park by 18 points on Dec. 12, by a score of 67-49. The Orioles fell to 12-7 overall and 9-5 in the North Suburban Conference.

Senior Gabrielle Olson added an additional 16 points and eight assists in the win.

Making free throws helped tilt the scale in the Vikings favor. On the game, the Vikings shot 26 for 31. while St. Louis Park was only 5-12.

Olson finished 12 for 14 from the line and Kristen Robatcek finished with eight rebounds.

"This was a big win for us. Not only had they beaten us easily the first time, we were on the road and they were ranked No. 10 in the state," Schindler said.

The Vikings weren't ready to quit after a win versus a top-rated team and kept the ball rolling by beating Fridley 62-49 on the road Feb. 2.

The first half ended with a three point advantage for the Vikings.

Robatcek led the team in scoring and steals. She finished with five steals and 16 points.

"On offense Robatcek got some key steals and hit some very big shots for us including a couple of three pointers of her own when Fridley was making a run at us," Schindler said.

The Vikings play the top three teams in the conference for their next three games, which should prove to be a test for the girls.

North Branch 31 31 62
St. Louis Park 30 27 57

Kacie Ramberg 8, Tiffany Good 18. Randi Zentner 7, Kristen Robatcek 9, Gabrielle Olson 16, Ashley Johnson 4.

North Branch 23 39 62
Fridley 20 29 49

Kacie Ramberg 7, Tiffany Good 13, Randi Zentner 7, Kristen Robatcek 16, Gabrielle Olson 14, Amy Aho 2, Megan Scherer.