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By Steve Morris
 A fan from the Spring Lake Park crowd couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His No. 1 seeded Panthers, who were supposed to walk all over the Vikings, were ahead by only two points with less than seven minutes left in the game. Could the top seeded Panthers get knocked off their pedestal by the Vikings?
Right: John Lindstrom, left, puts his arms in the air looking for a foul from the referee. No foul was called on the play. To view and order pictures from the game visit or click on the mycapture logo on the home page.
In the Vikings section playoff game, they played like a dog that doesn’t listen when you want them to go away, constantly nipping away at the Panthers ankles.
The Vikings were major underdogs going into the game as they were the No. 8 seed grappling with the top seeded Panthers. As if that wasn’t enough, the boys were riding an 11-game losing streak.
The Vikings overcame a 15-1 first half deficit to come within two points with seven minutes remaining in the game. On the first half deficit, head coach Bill Baumann was pleased with the character his team displayed.
“The kids could have just folded and quit at that time but they had just too much heart,” Baumann said.
Dan Ginal’s three off a pass from guard Ryan Norman sliced the deficit 43-41.
It was the closest the boys would get to toppling the Panthers and they eventuality met their fate, losing 60-48.
Ginal scored all his seven points in a matter of minutes, including a three-point basket with a foul for a four-point play.
After Ginal’s momentum-changing, four-point play, Spring Lake Park called a time out, gathered themselves, and proved why they belonged as the top seed by scoring seven points to stretch their lead to 50-41.
The Panthers were as calm as the downtown streets in North Branch on a Saturday morning, making 10 free throws in the final minutes to secure the win. The Panthers were outstanding from the free throw line as they shot 82 percent, making 15 of 17.
“We thought we had a good game plan and we stayed with it and fought our way back into the game. I really felt that we outplayed them the last 10 minutes of the first half ...” Baumann said.
It seemed the Panthers played into the Vikings game plan the second half, as the Vikings controlled the tempo.
In the first half, senior Jake Chambers scored 10 of the Vikings 21 first half points. He finished the game with a team-high 20 points.
For Baumann, the last five minutes reflected how their entire season went.
“Our strategy the whole game was to attack them and I thought we did a pretty good job as we got to the free throw line quite a bit. Overall we gave them everything they could handle.”
North Branch finished the season 8-19 overall and 3-17 in the North Suburban Conference.
Briefly:
Baumann thanked seniors Kirk Dahle, Danny Ginal, Eric Sampson, Bryce Hunter, Jake Chambers, John Lindstrom and Alex Sundly for their dedication to the program the last four years.
“They all gave a good account of themselves and worked hard everyday,” he said.
Spring Lake Park played Saint Anthony Village in the section quarterfinals, winning 65-50, which sent them to the section finals against No. 2 seeded Minneapolis Patrick Henry. The teams played Tuesday night.
Spring Lake Park 27 33 60
North ßranch 21 27 48
Jake Chambers 6-11 5-11 20; Bryce Hunter 4-8 2-6 10; Dan Ginal 2-3 1-1 7; John Lindstrom 0-5 4-4 4; Kirk Dahle 1-2 2-2 4; Ryan Norman 1-1 0-1 3; Victor Oeyesile 0-0 0-0 0; Deon Farr 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Grote 0-0 0-0 0; Alex Sundly 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Dahl 0-3 0-0 0; Eric Sampson 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 14-33 14-25 48.
3-point goals-Spring Lake Park 5-16 (SLP 5-16), North ßranch 6-15 (Jake Chambers 3-4; Dan Ginal 2-3; Ryan Norman 1-1; John Lindstrom 0-4; Kirk Dahle 0-1; Bryce Hunter 0-1; Mike Dahl 0-1) . Fouled out--Spring Lake Park-None, North ßranch-None. Rebounds-Spring Lake Park 37 (SLP 30), North ßranch 24 (Jake Chambers 6). Assists-Spring Lake Park 0 (), North ßranch 5 (Ryan Norman 2) . Total Fouls-Spring Lake Park 23, North ßranch .
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