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The Vikings struggled the whole game Tuesday, January 22 in a 62-34 loss at Spring Lake Park Tuesday, January 22.

North Branch was shut out until Eric Sampson scored with 10:25 left in the half. By that time, the Vikings were down 15-2. NB didn't score again until 6:03, when Kyle Grote found the bottom of the net. His three made it 18-5.

After Sampson scored a minute later, Park ran the score to 21-7. In the last four minutes, Mike Dahl hit a two, Grote connected on a pair of threes and Ryan Norman hit two freethrows. The late Viking surge kept them in the game, but the Panthers held a comfortable 32-17 lead at the break.

Most hopes of a North Branch comeback were quelled in the first six minutes of the new period. In that span, SLP outscored the Vikings 14-4, opening a 46-21 lead. Four minutes later, the Vikings were completely out of contention, trailing 52-22.

Grote, Sampson, John Lindstrom, Jake Chambers, Dan Ginal and Alex Sundly scored in the last few minutes. But, the Vikings were never able to mount a serious challenge.

"We didn't do much of anything right in this game," said Viking head coach Bill Baumann. "We played two halves like we played the first half against Chisago Lakes. We struggled shooting and then we didn't take care of the ball very well."

GAME SUMMARY

Spring Lake Park 32 30 62

North Branch 17 17 34

Viking Scoring

Kyle Grote 13

Jake Chambers 5

Eric Sampson 5

Dan Ginal 3

Ryan Norman 2

John Lindstrom 2

Alex Sundly 2

Mike Dahl 2

Total 34

Thursday, January 24 the Vikings got off to a fast start and cruised to an easy win over St. Paul Harding. The 73-48 win in North Branch left NB with an 8-7 season mark.

In the first five minutes, five Vikings (John Lindstrom, Jake Chambers, Ryan Norman, Eric Sampson and Kirk Dahle) scored from the field as they built a 14-6 lead. Harding hit a three, closing the gap to five before Lindstrom got hot from outside. The senior sharpshooter nailed three triples in a three-minute span. With 9:41 left in the half, the Vikings had a 23-11 lead.

The Vikings weren't satisfied with the lead. They outscored the Knights 15-6 in the last half of the opening period. During that span, Chambers scored five more points, Sampson and Lindstrom padded their stats and Kyle Grote and Mike Dahl broke into the scoring column. As a result, NB took a 38-18 advantage into the locker room.

We came right out and shot great and jumped out to an early lead," coach Baumann said. "We had been having trouble with teams that were quicker than we were, but we handled their pressure much better and actually made them pay for pressuring us by getting some easy baskets."

Harding recorded the first 10 points of the second half to cut the Viking lead to 10. At 15:51 the score was 38-28 in favor of North Branch. Just when it was starting to look like a real contest, the Vikings responded with a six-minute, 20-6 run that restored the halftime margin. Midway through the second half, the Vikings led 54-34.

Harding made one more charge. When a Knight hit a three at 6:54, the Viking lead was down to 55-42. But, NB made 13 freethrows, along with enough field goals, in the final minutes as they pulled away to a 25-point non-conference win.

"Rather than sitting back, like we had been doing, we forced the action and that strategy was very successful. Now we have to continue to be the aggressors on offense and I think we will be a able to get some easy shots," Baumann concluded.

GAME SUMMARY

St. Paul Harding 18 30 48

North Branch 38 35 73

Viking Scoring

Jake Chambers 18

John Lindstrom 17

Ryan Norman 7

Kyle Grote 7

Eric Sampson 7

Bryce Hunter 6

Kirk Dahle 4

Mike Dahl 4

Dan Ginal 3

Totals 73

The Vikings play at Fridley tonight, Thursday, January 31 and host Benilde-St. Margaret's Tuesday, February 5. Both contests are scheduled for 7:15 starts.

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