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The North Branch girls’ basketball team won three more games last week to move its season record to 6-1. 

North Branch......34.........33.......67

Cambridge..........19.........25.......44 

Head Viking coach Dan Schindler’s team started the week on the road at Cambridge Tuesday, December 13. 

“I was really pleased with our team effort tonight.  I thought our defense did a nice job keeping pressure on them and we did a good job limiting them to only one shot per possession,” Schindler commented.  

The Viking press created a lot of opportunities on the offensive end. “I thought Kristen Robatcek, Randi Zentner, and Lacee Scherer really played well.  Kristen's intensity on our press really got us going.  She can really bother another team when she is flying all over the court,” the coach added.

Tiffany Good led a balanced offensive attack with 18. Gab Olson had 14 points, eight assists and continues to run the team.

Scoring Summary vs. Cambridge 

Kacie Ramberg................. 2 pts

Tiffany Good...................18 pts

Randi Zentner................... 8 pts

Kristen Robatcek.............. 8 pts

Amy Aho.......................... 2 pts

Lacee Scherer................... 5 pts

Jill VandenHeuvel............ 2 pts

Heather Hoveland............ 1 pt

Marlayna Graff................ 5 pts

Gabrielle Olson...............14 pts

Ashley Johnson................ 2 pts 

North Branch 33 37 70

Columbia Heights 21 23 44 

The Vikings played at Columbia   Heights Thursday, December 15 in a game that was a lot closer than the score indicates.

“At halftime, we led 33-21 and had missed a lot of easy shots,” said coach Schindler. “We just couldn't make some easy ones and that kept Columbia Heights in it.” 

To start the second half, Heights started shooting the lights out. They hit five straight three pointers (eight for the game),  to cut the Viking lead to five. 

“Again, our press worked well and we were able to force some turnovers and turn them into easy points to pull away the last 10 minutes of the game,” Schindler added.

Marlayna Graff led the Viking rebounders with 14, Gabrielle Olson added 10 assists and Tiffany Good led all scorers with 19.

“Kacie Ramberg had her best offensive game of the the season with 10 points.  Kacie is a great defender and a very good shooter but usually doesn't shoot enough.    We need her to shoot more.  It was great to see her help the team out on the offensive end. 

“We need to learn to make those easy shots in the first half, especially on the road, so that teams can't get that momentum on us.  But after they cut the lead to five points, I like how the girls responded and dominated the rest of the game,” Schindler commented.

Scoring vs. Columbia Heights

Kacie Ramberg................10 pts

Tiffany Good...................19 pts

Randi Zentner.................. 8 pts

Kristen Robatcek............. 9 pts

Jill VandenHeuvel............ 8 pts

Marlayna Graff................ 4 pts

Gabrielle Olson............... 8 pts

Ashley Johnson............... 4 pts

Duluth Central 13 13 26

North Branch 30 27 57

The third game of the week turned out to be the Gabrielle Olson show.  The Vikings hosted Duluth Central in a Saturday, December 17 afternoon game.

According to coach Dan Schindler, Olson had one of the best individual games that any North Branch player has ever had. She ended the game with a quadruple double - 14 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, and 10 steals. 

“She is the first player I have ever had who was in double figures in four categories.  We’ve had some triple doubles, but never a quadruple double.  On top of that she  made about a 30-footer to end the first half.  She had a great game and should have had four or five more assists if we hadn't missed some easy layups. 

“The difference in this game was our team speed.  We really were able to run on them and had some easy opportunities to score.  We actually missed many easy shots, but were able to get off 85 attempts with the up tempo game,” concluded Schindler. 

Scoring vs. Duluth Central

Kacie Ramberg................ 2 pts

Tiffany Good.................. 11 pts

Ellie Fairbanks................. 2 pts

Kristen Robatcek.............. 11 pts

Amy Aho........................... 2 pts

Lacee Scherer.................... 2 pts

Jill VandenHeuvel............. 3 pts

Marlayna Graff................. 6 pts

Gabrielle Olson............... 14 pts

Ashley Johnson................. 4 pts

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