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The North Branch boys suffered a 59-37 basketball defeat at Tartan High School in Oakdale Tuesday, December 11.

Junior Mike Dahl assisted senior John Lindstrom three minutes into the contest. But, Lindstrom's layup was the only Viking scoring in the early minutes as NB fell behind 13-2 in the first six minutes of the game.

Back-to-back three's by junior Ryan Norman and senior Danny Ginal and another by sophomore Kyle Grote helped the Vikings cut the gap to four in the next two minutes. Midway through the half, Tartan held a 15-11 lead.

Two-for-two trips to the line by Norman and Ginal and a shot from outside the arc by junior Deon Farr helped the Vikings keep pace with the Titans. With less than three minutes before the half, the Vikings were down 23-18. However, Tartan went on an eight-point, half-ending run that moved its advantage to 31-18 at the break.

"I was extremely pleased with our effort," said Viking head coach Bill Baumann. "We came out at the beginning and took Tartan's best shot and then played with them for most of the first half. At the three minute mark, we had a little lapse and Tartan jumped on us to increase their lead from five to 13 right before the half."

The second half started like the game began. Mike Dahl was the only Viking to score in the first six minutes. Meanwhile, the Titans put 15 on the board, moving their advantage to 46-22.

From that point, Grote, Dahl, Lindstrom, Farr, Norman and senior Kirk Dahle provided the offense as the Vikings scored 17 points in the last third of the game. But the deficit was too great to overcome as the Tartan cruised to a 22-point win.

So far this season, the Vikings have played without at least two starters in each game. Top scorer Jake Chambers' emergency appendectomy extended that string. "We were playing a little short handed," Baumann admitted. "We said all year there will be no excuses. We have to worry about what we can control and not worry about what we can't control. We can control our effort and I feel we played with extreme effort.

"If we learn to play at that effort for the full 36 minutes and retain our focus for the full game, it will be a step in the right direction. Tartan is an excellent team and we had some players really respond to the challenge.

"Some of the kids we expected to bring along slowly have been forced to step up early. Hopefully, this will accelerate their learning curve and will be beneficial to us later. Playing a team like Tartan shows our kids the intensity level and attitude that we need to achieve to get to the next level," Baumann concluded.

SCORING SUMMARY

Tartan 31 28 59

North Branch 18 19 37

Ryan Norman 5

Deon Farr 5

Kyle Grote 7

John Lindstrom 5

Danny Ginal 5

Kirk Dahle 5

Mike Dahl 5

Total 37

Fridley 60, North Branch 53

Friday, December 14

The Vikings got off to another slow start against Fridley as the the Tigers outscored the home team 5-0 in the first 1:07 of play. NB came back quickly to take its only lead of the game on the strength of two triples. John Lindstrom hit from the left corner and Danny Ginal hit one from out front to give the Vikings a 6-5 advantage at the 15:48 mark.

Over the next half dozen minutes, the Tigers outscored the Vikes 13-4 to take an 18-8 lead. During that span, Aaron Good provided the only offensive highlights for NB. The lanky junior scored on a baseline drive and on an inside putback of his own miss to keep his team within reach.

Junior Ryan Norman hit a tre with 10:00 on the clock before the Vikings went into a five-plus minute scoring drought. During the dry spell, Fridley built a 26-13 lead.

John Lindstrom scored eight consecutive points and Kyle Grote added a two in a two-minute run that closed the gap to three points. The Vikings trailed 26-23 before Fridley out-pointed NB 11-2 in the closing four minutes to take a 37-25 halftime lead.

"We didn't really have our focus at the beginning of the game. I don't know if it was jitters or what, and we weren't executing the way we should have been," Viking coach Bill Baumann said.

Senior Kirk Dahle and Lindstrom drained three's and Ginal hit the net for a pair from behind the arc as the two teams traded points in the first half of the second period. Midway through the half, Fridley led 50-37. Dahl, Lindstrom, Norman and senior Eric Sampson scored as the Vikings closed the gap in the next six minutes.

At 2:46, the Vikings were within striking distance. Fridley's lead was down to seven (56-49). But, the Tigers didn't fold and held on for a 60-53 conference opening win.

"We did more of what we were supposed to do in the second half, but we still made a lot of inexperienced mistakes. The kids worked extremely hard," Baumann commented. "Fridley seemed to have an answer every time we made a run at them in the second half. John Lindstrom had a couple of super spurts which really kept us in the game. John is stepping up his game and showing some senior leadership. With the people we have out, we are getting a lot of experience and some players are being put into positions they are not accustomed to, which hopefully will make them grow."

Lindstrom led the Vikings with 17 points and eight rebounds. Norman did his job from the point, dishing out five assists and Kyle Grote had a nice all-around game, leading the team with a pair of steals and picking up three assists.

SCORING SUMMARY

Fridley 37 23 60

North Branch 25 28 53

Ryan Norman 5

Eric Sampson 2

Kyle Grote 4

John Lindstrom 17

Danny Ginal 9

Kirk Dahle 7

Mike Dahl 5

Aaron Good 4

Total 53

The Vikings travel to Benilde-St. Margaret's Tuesday, December 18 before playing host to St. Francis Friday, December 21. Both NSC games are scheduled for 7:15 tip-offs.

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