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The Vikings' basketball woes continued Friday March 7 at home. As in its previous game, North Branch stayed close for about 10 minutes. But, St. Louis Park pulled away for a 54-45 win.

After the Orioles opened the scoring with a two-pointer at 16:11, the Vikings got the home crowd going with a 5-0 run. Senior Kirk Dahle scored the first Viking points with a 16 foot jumper. Sophomore Kyle Grote hit one of two from the freethrow line before Jake Chambers was fouled on a fast break drive. He dropped both foul shots and, at 13:40, the home team was up 5-2.

The lead was short lived. The Orioles outscored the Vikings 7-0 in the next three minutes to take a 9-5 advantage.

Dahle and classmate John Lindstrom brought their team closer with back-to-back baskets. The two combined on a give-and-go, as Dahle slid through the lane and hit a layup. Freshman Ryan Norman shoveled a pass to Lindstrom, who slashed to the basket and scored. At 9:20, the score was tied at nine.

The opponents traded baskets in the next four minutes. Sophomore Kyle Grote hit a three at 6:20 and Lindstrom scored at 5:10. That hoop knotted the score at 14. That was the last tie of the game.

In the next two minutes, the Orioles drained two three-pointers and a freethrow to take a seven point lead. Just when it looked like the home team's offense had gone missing, Lindstrom saw Bryce Hunter breaking through the lane. Lindstrom passed, Hunter drove and the Vikings scored. With 11.2 seconds on the clock, Hunter hit another two and and was fouled. He completed the three-point-play and, when time ran out, the Vikings had climbed back to within two, 21-19.

The NB offense was silent for the first three minutes of the second period. SLP was ahead 26-19 when Dahle assisted Lindstrom at 15:00. The Orioles got the next four points to open a nine-point lead before the Vikings responded.

Viking fans were rejuvenated in the next two minutes. Chambers drove, scored off the glass and completed a three-point-play from the charity stripe before Dahle's hoop cut the Oriole lead to 30-27 with 11:05 left.

St. Louis Park scored the next seven points, putting the Vikings in a 37-27 hole midway through the half. Chambers' basket at 8:41 cut the lead to seven, but NB never got any closer. The Orioles led by as much as 13 in the final minutes to send the Viking fans home disappointed once again.

"We played hard again, but just couldn't catch a break," said Viking head coach Bill Baumann. "We were down two at half but we couldn't make a shot to start the second half."

GAME SUMMARY

North Branch 19 26 45

St. Louis Park 21 33 54

Viking Scoring

Kyle Grote 4

John Lindstrom 9

Jake Chambers 19

Bryce Hunter 5

Kirk Dahle 7

Aaron Good 1

Total 45

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