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Minnehaha Academy 61, North Branch 35

In their last game before taking a week off for Christmas, the North Branch girls basketball team found plenty of trouble in taking on defending Class AA state champion Minnehaha Academy.

"We knew going in that this would be a very tough test because they won [last year] and they had their big 6'4" center returning," Head Coach Dan Schindler said before the contest.

That was going to be especially difficult to deal with, as North Branch lacks any real size this year. The game was actually close throughout the first part of the opening half, though. The Vikes stayed within four at 12-8. Although the defense was playing well, it was the stagnant offense that was causing problems for North Branch.

"I thought early in the game we did a nice job on their big girl and we ended up with quite a few steals defensively on them," Schindler said. "But our trouble was trying to score on the offensive end with her standing in the middle of their zone."

Minnehaha Academy went on a 14-3 run to end the first half, and led 25-11 at halftime, and from there, North Branch had their work cut out for them.

The Redhawks dashed any hopes of a North Branch comeback by nailing 10 three pointers in the second half.

"When you play a quality team like this you just work on some things that will help you down the road," Schindler said after the academy won 61-35.

The Vikings were led by a pair of seniors as Kendra Norman had 11 points followed by Chelsea Tollberg with eight points.

The loss put North Branch under .500 for the season at 3-4. This week, they travel to Simley to take part in their Holiday Tournament, which they've been in for the past few years.

The tournament features St. Croix Lutheran, St. Paul Johnson, Southwest Christian, Zimmerman, St. Louis Park, St. Paul Como Park, Simley and the Vikings.

North Branch opened with Southwest Christian on Tuesday, and depending on the result, they will be playing either St. Croix Lutheran or St. Paul Johnson for their second game.

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