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The North Branch boys’ basketball team lost to Fridley 49-45 at North Branch Tuesday, January 31.

Few fouls were called in the game which was played in just over an hour and featured just 15 freethrow attempts. The were 12 lead changes and four ties in a game that was close for all 36 minutes.

The lead changed hands six times in the first 13 minutes, before the Tigers took the lead for the rest of the half. At the intermission, Fridley had a 23-20 margin.

The first six minutes of the second half, Viking Sophomore Jake Chambers outscored the Tigers nine to five as North Branch took a 29-28 lead, its last of the game. From that point, Fridley gradually pulled away and led by as much as 10 down the stretch.

Trailing 47-37, with 2:27 to play, the Vikings never gave up. Buckets by Chambers, Nick Perrin and Matt Warren closed the margin to three (48-45) with 35 seconds left. But, Fridley scored once more and held on for the win.

“We didn't play poorly, but we didn't play well either.  We made too many unforced mistakes, especially at critical times,” said North Branch head coach Bill Baumann. “We were able to cut the lead to three and had two possessions, but were not able to convert.”

Matt Warren led the Vikings with seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and nine points. Justin Novak had a good all-around game with five boards, two assists and six points.

Scoring Summary

North Branch 20 25 45

Fridley 23 26 49

Justin Novak ................... 6

Jeff Olson ................... 2

Matt Warren ................... 9

Nick Perrin ................... 6

Jake Chambers ................... 20

David Bennett ................... 2

Total 45

North Branch at Cooper

Friday, February 3

Cooper controlled play early in the contest and appeared to be ready to run away with the game. After five minutes of play, The Hawks held a 14-4 lead and the Vikings offense was almost nonexistent.

But, led by the scoring of Jake Chambers (15 first half points), the Vikings played tough for the rest of the period. The Hawks led by as much as 13 (25-12 with 5:53 to go), but North Branch fought back. When the half ended, the Vikings trailed by only eight (33-25).

“We went to conference leader Cooper and came out with the attitude and play we had after the holiday break.  Cooper is very athletic and talented.  They really hurt us inside in the first half but we made some halftime adjustments and took away their post-up game.

“Cooper started out jumping off to a big lead but the kids stuck to the game plan and were patient and it paid off as we were able to take some momentum into the half,” said coach Baumann.

“We came out the second half and answered everything Cooper threw at us.  They tried a variety of defenses, trying to trap, press and pressure, but the kids held their composure to rally back.  We took a lead with 10 minutes to go but Cooper answered and pushed the lead back out to 10.  Again we refused to give in and rallied to tie the game with four minutes to go.  With a break or two down the stretch we could have pulled this game out,” Baumann added.

“I'm really proud of the kids and the effort they gave in this game.  We could have given up a couple of times and gotten blown out. But, they knew what they were supposed to do and stayed the course and almost pulled it out. 

“Now, if we can carry over this effort and play this way from here on out, we will be alright,” Baumann concluded.

Scoring Summary

North Branch 25 36 61

Cooper 33 35 68

Justin Novak ................... 6

Jeff Olson ................... 3

Matt Warren ................... 21

Nick Perrin ................... 3

Jake Chambers ................... 25

David Bennett ................... 3

Total 61

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