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The Viking girls were defeated in a North Suburban Conference basketball game at St. Francis Friday, December 21. The Saints beat North Branch 72-45.

The Vikings stayed close for the first third of the game. With six minutes left in the first half, NB trailed 17-9. "I actually thought we played great defense the first 12 minutes of the game," North Branch head coach Dan Schindler said. "But, we had a bad stretch where we lost focus and St. Francis went on a run to lead 38-17 at halftime. We knew going in this would be a tough game, as St. Francis is undefeated and one of the best 4A teams in the state. They just have so much offensive firepower.

"I do think we are improving and the goal is to see some improvement on the scoreboard. Megan Scherer had her best game of the year and led us with 16 points. Ashley Johnson added 10," the Viking mentor added.

Of some of his younger players, Schindler said, "Freshman Kendra Norman continues to play well for us and took three charges, a stat we really stress in our defense. Two sophomores, Jessica Audette and Miranda Charley, came off the bench with quality minutes, also. So we are working hard and we hope to keep improving."

SCORING SUMMARY

North Branch 17 28 45

St. Francis 38 34 72

North Branch Scoring

Kristen Robatcek 4

Onalee Yousey 2

Jessica Audette 4

Kendra Norman 2

Miranda Charley 2

Megan Scherer 16

Rikki Beaver 1

Amanda Sylla 4

Ashley Johnson 10

Total 45

The Vikings return home tonight (Thursday, January 3) when they entertain Totino-Grace at 7:15. They then travel to Duluth Denfeld for a 12:30 p.m. Saturday, January 5 game and to Irondale Tuesday, January 8 for a 7:15 start.

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