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The North Branch Vikings had a few bumps along their winter sports road this year. Although they had an impressive showing in the individual state wrestling tournament and the boys hockey team came this close to winning the Two Rivers Conference title, the two basketball teams struggled to stay consistent throughout the season.

However, they still managed to get plenty of award recognition in the muddled North Suburban Conference.

Boys Basketball

The boys basketball team had one All-NSC selection in leading scorer Kyle Grote. Grote averaged just under 20 points a game for the Vikings, but he went down right before sections came, and it really hurt the Vikings in their first round upset loss. Grote also earned Academic All-Conference accolades.

Senior guard Kosta Moore earned All Conference Honorable Mention from the coaches for his play.

Sean Franks earned Academic All-Conference for the Vikings. Both Franks and Grote helped the team as a whole win the Section 7AAA Academic All-Conference championship.

Girls Basketball

The girls basketball team had a multitude of academic awards to go along with their awards on the court.

On the court, sophomore guard Kendra Norman earned All-Conference accolades with her 11.9 point average.

Jessica Audette and Rebecca Collins earned All-Conference Honorable Mention in their senior years. Audette averaged nine points a game and Collins averaged 8.6. Collins also cleaned up on the boards, leading the team with Miranda Charley in rebounds.

The team had a tough year after making it to the section finals last year. They returned almost the whole team in tact, but went only 14-14. The Vikes did pull a huge upset of rival Chisago Lakes in the first round of sections, but Totino Grace knocked them out of sections for the second year in a row.

In the classroom, the girls were very impressive during the basketball season. Laura Aho, Rikki Beaver, Charley, Collins and Josie Forstrom all earned Academic All-Conference awards for the Vikings.

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