By Steve Morris

It has been a seesaw season for the North Branch girls basketball team and last week was no different as the girls split a pair of conference games.

On Jan. 9, the girls called mercy to the Irondale Knights 61-49.

The girls had the game under wraps in the first half and entered the locker room ahead by two.

However, the Vikes were unable to keep the lead and lost by 12 points. Leading to the downfall of the Vikings was Irondale's long rang shooting -- they hit six three's on the night.

"The difference was their ability to get easier baskets and those six three pointers," head coach Dan Schindler said.

Gabrielle Olson led the team with 17 points. She also collected nine rebounds and had six assists. Tiffany Good added 16 points.

Schindler said other players need to pick up the slack offensively if they want to win more games.

Finishing off the week, the girls thumbed Columbia Heights by 59 points, 79-20. The game was never in question with the Vikings jumping ahead 17-0 early.

Twelve different girls scored for the Vikings.

"The girls continue to work hard and we are hoping we will have better results on the scoreboard the second half of the season," Schindler said.

North Branch 26 23 49
Irondale 24 37 61

Kacie Ramberg 2, Tiffany Good 16, Randi Zentner 8, Ellie Fairbanks 2, Kristen Robatcek 2, Amy Aho 2, Gabrielle Olson 17.

North Branch 40 39 79
Columbia Heights 9 11 20

Kacie Ramberg 9, Tiffany Good 15, Randi Zentner 4, Ellie Fairbanks 2, Kristen Robatcek 13, Megan Scherer 6, Amy Aho 8, Allyssa Peterson 2, Lacee Scherer 4, Gabrielle Olson 8, Cori Fairbanks 4, Ashley Johnson 4.

North Suburban Conference Standings
Benilde-St. Margaret's 9-0; Totino-Grace 8-1, St. Louis Park 7-2; St. Francis 6-3; Robbinsdale Cooper 5-4; Irondale 4-5; Chisago Lakes 4-6; Spring Lake Park 3-6; North Branch 2-7; Columbia Heights 0-9.