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Spring Lake Park 70, North Branch 34

The Viking boys continued their late season slump with a 70-34 loss at Spring Lake Park Tuesday, February 17.

North Branch has endured some slow starts this season, but nothing to rival this one as they fell behind the Panthers 21-0 in the first seven minutes. It wasn't until 10:22 remained in the opening half that Drew Lundquist's layup put the first points on the visitor's side of the scoreboard.

Three minutes later, it was 27-2 when the Vikings started their best stretch of the game. Mike Dahl's putback started a 10-0, two-minute run made it 27-12 with 4:57 on the clock. Lundquist scored his second layup, Ryan Norman went two-for-two from the freethrow line and Sean Franks and Kosta Moore scored two-point baskets to complete the NB surge.

Kyle Grote scored from inside and Dahl hit a three to close the margin to 31-17 at 3:21 to give the Vikes hope. However, the Panthers closed the period with a 13-0 run that gave them a commanding 44-17 halftime advantage.

If there was any question about the outcome, SLP ended it by outscoring North Branch 28-6 in the first seven minutes of the second half. By then, the Panthers enjoyed a 62-23 lead. The teams played even for the last 11 minutes, but the result was never in doubt.

GAME SUMMARY

North Branch 17 17 34

Spring Lake Park 44 26 70

NORTH BRANCH SCORING

Lundquist 4, Norman 3, Grote 9, Dahl 7, Good 2, Moore 2, Lindstrom 2, Huset 3, Franks 2

Irondale 53, North Branch 51

In a game that featured 17 lead changes, a baseline drive and basket with 2.4 seconds left kept the Vikings from ending their losing streak Friday, February 20 in North Branch. That last-second hoop gave the Irondale Knights a 53-51 North Suburban Conference win.

Three Deon Farr jumpshots, including two triples, a driving layup and a three by Jake Grandahl and a pair of Kyle Grote freethrows gave the Vikings a 14-13 lead midway through the first half. After the Knights hit back-to-back hoops and a Viking timeout, Grandahl drilled another three. With 5:51 left, it was 17 all.

At 4:13, Kosta Moore started an 11-0 Viking run that gave the home team a 21-29 halftime lead. Moore's three ball tied the score at 21 with 4:13 remaining. Neither team scored until Farr dropped a three with 55 seconds left in the half. Drew Lundquist scored on a steal and drive 15 seconds later. A last-second Mike Dahl shot from outside the arc gave the Vikes the eight-point advantage at the intermission.

The North Branch lead was erased in the first five minutes of the final period. The Knights rubbed the Viking lead out with a 12-2 run that gave them the avantage for the first time in nine minutes. In the next 20 seconds, a Norman three and an Aaron Good hoop from the paint put NB back in the lead. With 12:40 to go, the Vikings led 36-33.

Two minutes later, Dahl put the home team up 39-38. Norman extended the lead with another three with 8:50 left. At 6:15, Lundquist made the score 45-45. Irondale came back to take a two-point lead before Farr and Grote hit back-to-back threes that gave the Vikings a 51-47 lead with 3:36 on the clock.

Irondale came back to tie it at 51 with 2:11 left. A Viking turnover gave the visitors the ball with 90 seconds to go. The Knights moved the ball around the perimeter until the final seconds. Despite cries of "He Traveled" from the locals, a baseline drive netted the winning points for Irondale with 2.4 seconds remaining.

GAME SUMMARY

North Branch 29 22 51

Irondale 21 32 53

NORTH BRANCH SCORING

Lundquist 5, Norman 6, Grote 5, Dahl 6, Good 4, Farr 13, Moore 6, Grandahl 6

"We had really hit rock bottom the last few games," said Viking head coach following the Irondale game, "but we played like a real team against Irondale. Don't get me wrong, we made mistakes and we didn't win, but we corrected a lot of things we had been doing in the previous four to five games. `We still have a lot to correct, but give the kids credit, they could have just quit on the season but they refused to do that and have come out and are working on correcting the things we need to fix to make us better."

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