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The North Branch boys' basketball team ran its season record to 2-0 with a 56-44 win at Cambridge, Tuesday, December 5. Thanks largely to seven early points from Bryce Hunter, the Vikings kept up with the Bluejacket scorers in the first six minutes. At the 11:16 mark, a Cambridge field goal created the game’s first and only tie at 12-12.

Over the next eight minutes, the Vikings went on a 14-0 run that gave NB a 26-12 lead. During that span, four different Vikings scored, including eight points from Nick Perrin. The teams traded baskets over the last three minutes and the half ended with a 30-18 lead for North Branch.

Four minutes into the second half, Cambridge had whittled the lead to seven. Once again, the Vikings responded by outscoring the Bluejackets 10-0 in the next two minutes, taking a 27-44 lead with less than 12 minutes remaining. From that point, the Viking lead never fell below nine as they cruised to the 12 point win.

“I was very pleased with our hustle and intensity.  We were able to keep our defensive pressure up the whole game,” said North Branch head coach Bill Baumann. “I thought Cambridge-Isanti made a couple of nice adjustments at halftime and they were able to cut into our lead. But, then we countered with some adjustments of our own and we were able to extend our lead.

“We had our chances in both halves to open the game up, but we were atrocious from the free throw line (7 for 22).  Our shooting in general wasn’t very good (21 for 57). We are still struggling to find our rotation and it may take us a while to settle into something permanent.  At times we moved the ball very well and we had shots we wanted, but we just couldn’t put them in,” the coach added. 

“Defensively, we had a lot of steals (22) because we played the passing lanes very well and we put extreme pressure on the ball. I feel Cambridge-Isanti is going to become a good team as they are very young and it was their first game.  They played very hard and never quit. We have to keep working on taking better care of the ball and maintaining our concentration.  We sometimes lose our focus which led to silly turnovers,” Baumann concluded.

All eight Vikings who played at least four minutes got into the scoring column, including Perrin’s 15, Justin Novak’s 13 and Hunter’s 10. John Lindstrom led the Viking rebounders with 10, as well as being credited with three blocks. Novak had eight steals for the Vikes, while Jake Kovarik stole the ball five times and Ryan Norman had four. Jake Chambers assisted on three NB baskets.

North Branch 30 26 56

Cambridge-Isanti 18 26 44

North Branch Scoring

Ryan Norman 3

Jake Kovarik 1

Justin Novak 13

Jeff Olson 4

Nick Perrin 15

John Lindstrom 3

Jake Chambers 7

Bryce Hunter 10

Total 56    

The Vikings Play at Fridley tonight (December 14) and host Benilde-St. Margaret’s at 7:15 Tuesday, December 19.    

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