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After starting the season 3-7, the North Branch girls' basketball team finished its regular season with a record of 14-12 and a North Suburban Conference record of 10-10. It marked the ninth consecutive season the team will finish the season with a winning record. 

Columbia Heights 10 21 31

North Branch 33 37 70 

Tuesday, February 20, the Vikings' seven seniors played their final home game, defeating Columbia Heights 70-31.  "This is a very SPECIAL group of players who are very dedicated and have given countless hours to our program," said North Branch head coach Dan Schindler.

All seven seniors scored in the game and Tiffany Good capped off the night, scoring the 1000th point of her career.  "Tiffany has probably practiced more than anyone on our team and it was nice to see all of her hard work pay off," Schindler continued.  Good became the fifth girl in N.B. girls' basketball history to score 1000 points. 

"The seven seniors, Gabrielle Olson, Good, Kacie Ramberg, Randi Zentner, Amy Aho, Ellie Fairbanks and Lacee Scherer, will really be missed next year," Schindler added. "They are a very fun group to work with and have led us to a lot of success the last three seasons." 

North Branch controlled the game from the start and led 33-10 at halftime. "We really just wanted Tiffany to get her 1000th point at home," Schindler said. Good scored her game-high 22nd and 1000th of her career on a left handed runner down the lane with 37.1 seconds left.

Teammates held up signs that read 1 0 0 0 and the crowd cheered as she took a spot on the bench. "It was a great way to cap off a very special night," Schindler said.  

Olson also had a record setting night for the Vikings. She had seven steals and became the school's all time leader with 451.  She already holds the school record for assists with 601.   

North Branch Scoring

Kacie Ramberg 8

Tiffany Good 22

Randi Zentner 3

Ellie Fairbanks 5

Kristen Robatcek 7

Amy Aho 3

Alyssa Peterson 2

Lacee Scherer 3

Gabrielle Olson 8

Cori Fairbanks 2

Ashley Johnson 7

Total 70 

NB at Robbinsdale-Cooper

In its last game of the regular season, North Branch lost 42-29 at Robbinsdale-Cooper Thursday, February 22. 

"This is one of the teams that is a tough match-up for us," coach Schindler said.  "Since the game really didn't mean much, I don't think we came with enough intensity. It was their senior night and I just think they wanted it much more than us.

"It was a very physical game and that's not really our style.  The refs didn't call many fouls on either side and that doesn't really favor us," Schindler added.  "As the score would indicate, we struggled scoring.  I thought we took it to the hoop hard many times but got few results."

After falling behind in the first half and the beginning of the second, North Branch made a nice comeback. Midway through the second period, the Vikings closed the gap to 31-26. However, after that, they went into a scoring drought and managed only three points over the last eight minutes. 

Talking about what the Viking coaches told the players after the low-scoring loss, Schindler said, "We really just said after the game to put this one behind us and now concentrate on the playoffs." 

North Branch 13 16 29

Robbinsdale-Cooper 24 18 42

North Branch Scoring

Kacie Ramberg 7

Tiffany Good 2

Randy Zentner 4

Kristen Robatcek 8

Megan Scherer 2

Gabrielle Olson 6

Total 29

North Branch will open up play on Thursday night at Rogers at 6 p.m. vs. Chisago Lakes. 

"We are the number four seed and they are number five.  We split during the year and we both know each other well.  I expect a very close game," Schindler concluded.

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