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North Branch 45

Milaca 37

The Vikings knew before the season even started that if they were going to win, it had to come from the from their defense. Simply put, without an offensive star like last year, the Vikings youth is ugly at times. Therefore, their defense needs to be solid.

Last Tuesday, it was. Facing Milaca at home, North Branch shot just 30 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free throw line, but their defense picked up the slack, holding the Wolves to 30 percent from the floor en route to an ugly 45-37 win.

“We said at the beginning of the year that we were going to have to win the game ugly and that is exactly what happened,” said Bill Baumann, North Branch head boys basketball coach. “We played very good defense and forced them to do things they didn’t want to do. We also realty concentrated this week on blocking out on the boards and we were very effective keeping them off the offensive glass. Our goal was to get 33 percent of our missed shots and we were able to get over 36 percent.”

Thanks to a three-pointer by Greg Moriarty, one of two field goals in the first quarter by North Branch, the Vikings were able to hold an 8-7 lead after the first quarter. Other than that, the Vikings shot just 20 percent from the field and committed seven turnovers. Meanwhile for Milaca, it wasn’t much better as they shot just 25 percent.

North Branch hit two more treys in the second quarter as both teams began to pick up he pace on offense. Along with another three-pointer from Moriarty, Jake Lindstrom also hit from downtown. In addition, the Vikings went five of eight from the free throw line. However, the extra boost on offense wasn’t enough to keep the lead. The Wolves nailed six shots from the floor in the second quarter, including two three-pointers which helped Milaca build their lead to as much as four before two Vikings free throws brought the lead back to two at the break, 24-22.

Things turned ugly for both teams in the third as North Branch and Milaca combined to score nine points in the quarter. The Vikings only two baskets came two minutes apart. All together, North Branch hit two of 12 shots in the quarter (16 percent). However, with their offense struggling, the Vikings picked up their intensity on defense, forcing eight turnovers, keeping them within striking distance. After three quarters, the Milaca lead was just three.

“Offensively we really struggled shooting the ball until the end of the game,” remembered Baumann. “Nick Perrin didn’t have a point until he hit three three-pointers in the last four minutes. The one he missed during that period, Tony Beaver was able to follow that up with a putback.”

In other words, as bad as North Branch was on offense in the first three quarters, they made the crowd forget about that with their performance in the fourth. To put things into perspective, after scoring 26 points over the first 24 minutes of the game, the Vikings scored 19 points over the final eight minutes. Nine of those points came from Perrin from beyond the arc. His first of three treys tied the game at 31 with five minutes to play. After the Wolves re-took the lead 12 seconds later, Beaver’s putback tied the game and Jake Chamber’s basket gave them the lead. It was the final lead change of the game. From that point on, the Vikings outscored Milaca 10-4 down the stretch, taking control of the game at the perfect time. The four-minute flurry gave the Vikings a 45-37 win, their second victory of the season.

“Matt Warren and Jake Chambers have been very effective attacking the basket and Greg Moriarty kept us in the game in the opening half with two big three’s,” said Baumann. “Al Moore has been giving us good defense while Justin Novak is a pest on the defensive end.”

And defense was the key. Not only did the Vikings hold the Wolves to 31 percent from the floor, they forced 21 turnovers in the game along with seven steals to Milaca’s none.

“The close games we had earlier really helped us at the end of that game. We didn’t do everything right but we are making progress. As long as we keep playing tough defense, we should be able to stay in most games and anything can happen in the end,” commented Baumann. “We are starting to settle into some roles and they should start to expand as we gain more confidence. I see nothing but an upside for this team.”Chambers finished with 10 points and four rebounds while Perrin added nine. In addition, Beaver chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds.

1 2 3 4 F

Milaca 8 16 5 8 37

North Branch 7 15 4 19 45

Scoring-

Chambers 10, Perrin 9, Beaver 8, Warren 7, Moriarty 6, Lindstrom 3, Moore 2.

North Branch 64

Forest Lake 54

Scoring wasn’t a problem last Friday versus Forest Lake-for either teams, especially from the three-point line where the Vikings and Rangers combined to hit 14 treys in the game. Twelve of them came from North Branch. Based on that stat, it’s easy to see why the Vikings were able to build an 11-point lead in the second quarter and coast from there, winning 64-54.

It was a comeback win. The Rangers actually finished the first quarter in the lead, outscoring the Vikings 17-13. Forest Lake built their lead to as much as six midway through the first before back-to-back three-pointers by Perrin and Warren tied the game. From there, the Rangers scored the final four points of the quarter to grab a 17-13 lead.

Everything changed for the better for Vikings fans in the second as North Branch got hot from beyond the arc. First Moriarty canned a trey one minute into the second, followed by a Chambers three two minutes later. Chambers three put the Vikings in the lead by one, 21-20, a lead they would never lose thanks to four more three-pointers in the quarter including two by Warren. The flurry of three’s built the North Branch lead to as much as 11 points late in the second before the Rangers added a late basket, making it a nine point lead at the half. In all, the Vikings outscored Forest Lake 22-9 in the quarter- 18 of those points came from beyond the arc.

“We had been running our offense fairly well in recent weeks but we hadn’t been converting,” said Baumann. “We have been working on our shooting a lot in practice and it has paid off. We moved the ball well and everyone got involved.”

Six different players scored in the first half for the Vikings, and in the second half, that balance continued as five different players tickled the twine.

They needed everyone of those baskets to stay in front, especially in the third quarter where Forest Lake charged back. The Rangers scored nine of the first 11 points of the quarter to trim the Viking lead to two with just over two minutes left. However, Fittingly, it was a North Branch three-pointer that broke that streak as Jeff Olson canned one from beyond the arc, pushing the lead back to five. Perrin then scored the final five points of the third for North Branch, giving them a five point lead heading into the fourth, 45-40.

As close as the Rangers got, they tested the Vikings one more time in the game, pulling within one three minutes into the fourth after scoring six the quarters first eight points. But again, it wasn’t enough. This time North Branch stayed alive by sinking six free throws down the stretch. In addition, Tony Beaver hit his first three-pointer of the game, bringing the Viking lead to six. North Branch grew their lead to 11 soon after before settling on a 64-54 win. The victory was the Vikings second in a row.

“That was a big win for us in the fact that we were able to close the game out at the end. We had lost earlier in the year because we couldn’t close out, but we have learned from those losses and we executed down the stretch,” commented Baumann. “The kids are really working hard and we are improving. Everybody we play has more size than we do so we have to concentrate on the little things that win games. We are starting to become more comfortable in what we are doing so we are now reacting rather than thinking which is making us more efficient.”

Eight players scored in the game for North Branch, but all 10 players played. The Vikings were led by Perrin’s 25. Perrin paced the team in three-pointers with four and Warren added three treys. In addition, Chambers and Warren led the team in rebounding with five boards apiece, and Beaver chipped in with five assists.

“It is really nice to have all the kids in the rotation contribute in some way. They are starting to settle in their roles and we are looking more comfortable playing with each other,” remarked Baumann. “Most of the time people just look at the number of points someone scores but players have different roles and there are other roles besides scoring that are just as or more important. It has taken awhile for us to get a feel for each other but we still have a long ways to go.”

1 2 3 4 F

Forest Lake 17 9 14 14 54

North Branch 13 22 10 19 64

Scoring-

Perrin 25, Warren 13, Beaver 9, Chambers 7, Olson 3, Moriarty 3, Peterson 2, Novak 2.

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