February 22, 2007 at 8:24 a.m.
North Branch boys drop two conference basketball games
North Branch boys drop two conference basketball games
The Vikings got off to a slow start. Six minutes into the game, Totino held a 10-3 lead. The home team continued to expand that lead until, at the three minute mark, the Vikings trailed 26-11.
In the last three minutes of the half, the Vikings doubled their offensive output by scoring 11 points. Jake Chambers started the scoring with a three at 2:21. John Lindstrom hit from downtown before Chambers hit another threeball at 1:16.
With seven seconds left in the period, Ryan Norman, who led the Vikes with eight first half points, hit a two to complete the scoring. The Vikings had closed the gap to 31-22 as the teams headed for the locker room.
In the second 18, the Vikings started slow, again. Through the first 11 minutes, the Eagles gradually built their lead. With 6:55 on the clock, the Totino lead was 55-34.
As Viking fans have observed all season, they don't ever quit. Nick Perrin hit a three and Justin Novak dropped a two. With 5:54 left, they trailed 55-39. After an Eagle field goal, a Norman three and a Chambers two made it 57-44 with almost four minutes to go.
Over the last minutes, the Vikings closed the gap to 10 on several occasions, but Totino scored enough to preserve the 10 point win.
North Branch 22 31 53
Totino-Grace 31 32 63
North Branch Scoring
Ryan Norman 15
Nick Perrin 11
Jake Chambers 12
Justin Novak 7
Bryce Hunter 1
John Lindstrom 5
Jake Kovarik 2
Total 53
Irondale at North Branch
A second half rally fell short as the Vikings lost 56-48 to Irondale Thursday, February 15 at North Branch.
A minute into the game, Jake Chambers' freethrows gave the Vikings a 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, Nick Perrin's driving layup and freethrow gave NB a 5-3 lead. That advantage was the last one the Vikings enjoyed.
An Irondale timeout paid dividends, as they scored the next five to take an 8-5 lead. Perrin's long two from the top of the key made it 8-7 at 8:56. Bryce Hunter's perseverance produced the Vikings' next points. Hunter's putback from the lower right block was blocked. While the Knights waited for the ball to go out of bounds, Hunter picked it up and scored from the other side. Irondale led 11-9 at 7:15.
In the next three minutes, Irondale outscored the Vikes 13-2. Only Hunter's two foul shots at 5:31 interrupted the run. With three minutes left, the Knights had taken a 24-11 lead. Chambers, Ryan Norman and Hunter took turns going two-for-two from the charity stripe and, at 1:54, the home team had reduced the deficit to 24-17.
Hunter scored again, this time on a three from the side, before the half. Meanwhile, Irondale hit three more form the outside to take a 31-20 halftime lead.
Four minutes into the second half, the Vikings trailed 36-23 when they started a 6-0 run. Perrin and Justin Novak hit back-to-back three's before Perrin scored on a pass from Novak to make it 36-31 with 9:50 to go.
At 6:59, the Vikings suffered a big loss. Perrin faked a jumper, split two Knight defenders and drove to the hoop. He went high and scored on the drive. But, he was fouled while in the air and came down on the side of his foot. He spent the rest of the game with an icebag on the sidelines. Norman completed the three point play by making the freethrow. At 5:40, a Chambers drive closed the gap to 40-38.
Irondale scored the next six and appeared to have things in hand with a 48-40 advantage with 1:45 to go. But, Hunter's drive and freethrow and a Chambers bomb at 1:06 made it 48-46. Following two Irondale freethrows, the Vikings closed the gap to 50-48 when the smallest man on the court, Viking sophomore Ryan Norman, tipped in a Viking miss with 42.5 seconds on the clock.
But, the rally stalled as the Knights finished the scoring by going six-for-six from the charity stripe while the Vikings failed to find the net. That made the final score Irondale 56, North Branch 48.
North Branch 20 28 48
Irondale 31 25 56
North Branch Scoring
Ryan Norman 5
Nick Perrin 12
Jake Chambers 11
Justin Novak 6
Bryce Hunter 12
Eric Sampson 2
Total 48
"We just didn't get a good start in either game. We fell behind early and struggled to come back and just couldn't close the gap," said North Branch head coach Bill Baumann. "We had chances in both games but we just couldn't convert a critical possession. What is happening to us this year is what we usually do to teams. Right now we come down and have a shot go in and out then the other team comes down and buries a shot.
"We are just too inconsistent. We have periods where we play the way I think we are capable of playing and then we have spurts where we don't score for seven to ten minutes. Without our defense we would be in big trouble. It has been keeping us in games and giving us opportunities," Baumann added.
"We are still playing hard and all it takes at this time of the year is for you to get hot. We need to keep playing defense and then explode on offense. We have the potential to be a very dangerous team winding down the season," the veteran Viking mentor commented.
The Vikings hope to take advantage of their home court when they host Robbinsdale-Cooper Friday, February 23 and cross-county rival Chisago Lakes Tuesday, February 27. Both games begin at 7:15.
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