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In a game that featured tenacious defense, a lot of physical contact and patient offense, North Branch defeated Chisago Lakes 48-38 at NBHS Thursday, January 17.

The shooters were as cold as the January night through most of the first half. It wasn't until nearly three minutes had passed that Viking senior Jake Chambers broke the scoring ice. He used a strong move along the baseline and a couple of head fakes to score, despite the intense interest of Wildcat big man Josh Figini.

A minute later, Wildcat senior Taylor Jones knotted the score with a slashing drive through the lane. Soon thereafter, CL head coach Herb Jangor called for a timeout. When play resumed, another minute passed with no change on the scoreboard. The Vikings had the next good opportunity, but Figini stopped that with a block.

Wildcat junior guard Quinn Collins set up the next hoop. After a scramble under the CL basket, the ball headed out-of-bounds. Collins alertly launched himself off the end of the court, controlled the ball and flipped it back to Figini, sliding through the lane. He converted the layup and, at 11:42, the 'Cats had a 4-2 lead.

The Wildcat defense continued to stifle Viking scoring opportunities over the next few minutes. Figini scored on a fast break and classmate Kyle Hogie stole a pass, leading to another break at 8:45. That gave the Wildcats an 8-2 margin.

The second Viking basket, a Ryan Norman shot from behind the arc at 8:36, made it 8-5 Wildcats. Jones scored for the 'Cats from the lane at 5:25. Viking sophomore Kyle Grote answered from downtown. His three cut the Wildcat lead to 10-8.

Three minutes passed before another score. Junior Henry Fitzpatrick hit from the side and Hogie drained two freethrows, giving the visitors a 14-8 lead at the 1:24 mark. From there, Viking senior Dan Ginal hit two from the charity stripe, Hogie countered with one-of-two and Chambers, fouled on a drive, dropped two more Vikings freethrows. That made the halftime score Chisago 15, North Branch 12.

The second period started like the first as 2:20 passed before Chambers hit a two. Figini followed with a putback of a Hogie miss. Norman found teammate John Lindstrom open on the perimeter 90 seconds later. Lindstrom's shot found the net and, at 13:30, the score was knotted at 17.

At 12:05, Lindstrom passed to Grote, who scored from outside, giving the Vikings their first lead, 20-17. Junior Mike Dahl hit from the outside, giving the Vikings a 23-17, lead before Figini showed his range by hitting a three. With less than 11 minutes left, it was 23-20 in the Vikings' favor.

Chambers stole the ball and converted two freethrows when Hogie fouled him at midcourt, preventing the breakaway. On the Vikings next possession, Chambers scored again when he threaded his way through Wildcat defenders in the lane. Grote completed a 6-0 NB run when he scored a pair from the line. With 8:45 left, the Vikings led 29-20.

In the next minute, Hogie heated up for a pair of three pointers, the second a banker from out front. It was 29-26 before Bryce Hunter went two-for-two from the gift line for North Branch. Fitzpatrick answered with a putback. With less than seven minutes on the clock, NB led 31-28.

Chambers added two freethrows and hit a long jumper for the Vikings and Cole Johnson made a freethrow before Figini got back in the scoring column. His two singles from the line made it a five-point, 36-31, Viking advantage with 4:49 remaining.

Lindstrom made a freethrow, Dahl hit a three and Lindstrom converted the second of two from the line to expand the lead to 41-31. The Vikings continued to make enough freethrows down the stretch to maintain a double-digit lead despite two late Eric Reed three-pointers.

The 10-point win left the Vikings at 7-6 overall and 3-5 in the North Suburban Conference. The Wildcats are 1-6 in the NSC and 3-9 overall at midseason.

SCORING SUMMARY

North Branch 12 36 48

Chisago Lakes 15 23 38

Viking Scoring

Ryan Norman 5

Kyle Grote 9

John Lindstrom 7

Dan Ginal 2

Jake Chambers 15

Mike Dahl 8

Bryce Hunter 2

Total 48

Wildcat Scoring

Kyle Hogie 11

Cole Johnson 1

Eric Reed 6

Taylor Jones 4

Josh Figini 12

Henry Fitzpatrick 4

Total 38

The Wildcats host Fridley at 7:15 Friday, January 25 and Benilde-St. Margaret's Tuesday, January 29, also at 7:15.

The Vikings host St. Paul Harding Tonight, January 24 at 7:30 before resuming NSC play at St. Louis Park Tuesday, January 29 at 7:15.

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