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North Branch 59, Spring Lake Park 42

With their win total from last year already doubled this season, the North Branch girls basketball team just continues to build towards a postseason run now.

They double-dipped in success in downing Spring Lake Park. Not only are the Panthers a North Suburban Conference foe, they are also in the same section as the Vikings. "This was a nice section win for us as SLP beat us in the first game by seven points," Head Coach Dan Schindler said. "They are bigger than us at every position, but we did a very nice job of using our quickness versus their size."

The evenly-matched teams traded baskets throughout the first half with neither squad able to build a substantial lead. North Branch held a slim 29-26 lead at halftime.

In the second half, however, it was all North Branch. "The second half was really our style of basketball," Schindler explained. "We played great team defense and we won the game on the free throw line."

North Branch's smothering defense mostly limited the Panthers to one shot per possession, and with Megan Scherer cleaning up on the boards -- she finished the game with 11 rebounds -- it spelled disaster for Spring Lake Park.

The Vikings limited the Panthers to only 16 points in the second half as they cruised to the 59-42 win.

The real story of the game though came at the free throw line. North Branch sank 30-of-37 charity tosses while Spring Lake Park only attempted 15 free throws, making good on 12 of them. "Our style has always been to win the games at the free throw line, and we did a nice job of handling the basketball and getting to the line," Schindler said.

Scherer led the team in scoring as well as rebounding, netting 14 points. Kendra Norman scored 13 points, and Jessica Audette had 12. Rikki Beaver had 10 points, five rebounds and six assists. "Rikki has worked hard all year, and it's nice to see her really step up her game to help us," Schindler said.

GAME SUMMARY

North Branch 29 30 59

Spring Lake Park 26 16 76

Scoring: Scherer 14, Beaver 10, Aho 2, Collins 4, Norman 13, Audette 12, Forstrom 4

Irondale 65, North Branch 46

In a game of critical match-ups, Irondale came away the clear victor of this battle. "Irondale really gave us some match-up problems," Schindler explained. "They have a big center [Aliena Debelak] who really dominated the game early."

Debelak herself matched the Vikings first half output, as North Branch was only able to net 17 points in the opening stanza, while Debelak had 17 of Irondale's 30 points.

The Vikings weren't able to mount a serious threat in the second half either. If Debelak wasn't pounding on them down low, their sharpshooters were hitting three-pointers. "I give Irondale a lot of credit because they really executed against our defense," Schindler said. "When we doubled and tripled their inside game, they hurt us from the three-point line. When we covered that, they hurt us from the inside. We didn't play bad basketball, sometimes, you just have to give the other team some credit."

Schindler was optimistic that the game would be a learning tool for the Vikings as they close in on the postseason. Schindler said it should helpe them prepare for the tourney because Irondale's style of play is really indicative of what they'll see from some of the teams they may face.

Norman led the offense with 20 points, and Audette was the only other Viking who made a dent on offense, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds.

"I told the girls after the game that we should forget this one quickly and concentrate now on our section," Schindler said.

Before sections however, the Vikings finish up the regular season with a big game against rival Chisago Lakes tonight at North Branch.

GAME SUMMARY

North Branch 17 29 46

Irondale 30 35 65

Scoring: Scherer 4, Beaver 3, Yousey 3, Aho 1, Collins 3, Norman 20, Audette 8, Forstrom 4

After finishing last season 6-21, the girls now stand at 13-11, with a 9-10 mark in the brutal North Suburban. With a win against Chisago Lakes, the girls can notch their most regular season wins since the 2006-07 season.

By the time they play the Wildcats, however, the Vikings know who they'll be playing in sections, the pairing were released on Wednesday, after the County Press was printed. Check out next weeks issue for the big game recap and find out who the Vikings will be playing in the first round of sections.

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