Posted: 1/3/07
Girls 3rd at Simley Holiday Tournament
 North Branch's Megan Scherer goes for two points while Holy Angels senior guard Chelsey Weber, right, tries to block her shot during a game at Simley High School Dec. 28. |
By Steve Morris
The North Branch girls basketball team took third place at the Simley Holiday Tournament last week.
In the first round, they went toe-to-toe with the St. Paul Academy Spartans, winning 45-22.
The Vikings defensive game was solid, holding the Spartans to eight second half points. Leading the defense charge was Kristen Robatcek who recorded nine steals. She also finished with 12 points to lead the team.
"We really dominated this game in all phases but our poor shooting made the score a lot closer than it should have been," head coach Dan Schindler said. "It has been our problem all year and we just keep telling the girls to keep shooting good shots."
It was a balanced scoring effort, with nine girls scoring points for the Vikes.
"We didn't have much intensity but were were able to pull out the win," senior guard Gabrielle Olson said.
Against the Academy of Holly Angles, a private school in Richfield, the Vikings let the game slip away in the second half and lost 64-48. The Holy Angles Stars went on to win the tournament.
"We came out strong but then in the second half we a had a little part where we didn't score very much," Olson said.
The Vikes were able to close Holy Angle's lead by three late in the first half but couldn't keep it there as they let the advantage slip into double figures in the second half.
Part of the conundrum was Holy Angel's full-court pressure. It caused the Vikings to cough up the ball many times and not get into a rhythm on offense. That said, Schindler was still happy with his team's performance and effort.
"It was a fast passed game and we did a lot of good things on the court," he said.
Among the good things was forcing the Holy Angels into 27 turnovers.
In the final game of the tournament, the Vikes played the St. Paul Highland Park Scots and won 68-52.
Good led all scores with 19 points. The vexing shooting problems that has plagued the Vikings most of the season seemed to be a thing of the past against the Scots. The Vikes shot 40 percent from the floor.
"It's funny how when the ball goes in the hoop all the other problems seem to go away," Schindler said.
The Vikings jumped on Highland Park early, going ahead 10-2. Everything seemed to click after that, Schindler said.
Olson penetrated Highland Park's press defense, finding the open teammate. She finished the game with a double double; 11 assists and 15 points.
This was our best game of the year ..." Schindler said.
Briefly
The North Branch girls junior varsity team also played in the Simley Holiday Tournament and won all three games to earn the championship. The team is coached by Lexi Geisler.
North Branch 34 34 68
Highland Park 24 28 52
Kacie Ramberg 8, Tiffany Good 19, Randi Zentner 8, Kristen Robatcek 9, Megan Scherer 3, Amy Aho 4, Lacee Scherer 2, Gabrielle Olson 15.
North Branch 24 21 45
St. Paul Academy 14 8 22
Kacie Ramberg 2, Tiffany Good 8, Randi Zentner 4, Ellie Fairbanks 2, Kristen Robatcek 12, Amy Aho 2, Lacee Scherer 2, Gabrielle Olson 11, Ashley Johnson 2.
North Branch 18 30 48
Holy Angels 25 39 64
Kacie Ramberg 6, Tiffany Good 14, Randi Zentner 2, Ellie Fairbanks 1, Kristen 11, Megan Scherer 2, Gabrielle Olson 12
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