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North Branch 55, St. Francis 53

North Branch avoided the long losing streaks they’ve had this year when they rebounded from a loss against Spectrum to beat St. Francis on Tuesday, January 23.

The Vikings beat the Saints 55-53 in the Mississippi 8 Conference scrum. Although the offense didn’t quite take off like it has done at times this year, Head Coach Todd Dufault always preaches defense first, and he was proud of the effort from his player, holding SF to just 53 points on the game.

Tyler Minke had a huge game for the Vikings, scorinb 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds and five steals. Brody Beaver added 12 points and five assists and Evan Overson continued his second hald surge with 10 points.

Grand Rapids 62, North Branch 48

The Vikings stepped out of the M8C to take on Grand Rapids on Saturday, January 27. They were hoping to build on the St. Francis win as Grand Rapids was once 2-11 on the year. But, the Thunderhawks had other ideas and won their third game in a row, beating NB 62-48.

Minke had another big game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but the Vikings couldn’t get much else going on offense. Noah Thorsen scored 11 points but Beaver, who is NB’s second leading scorer on the year, scored only five points on the night.

The Vikings now stand at 9-9 on the year. They hosted Big Lake earlier this week but now go on the road for six straight games over the next three weeks, finishing with just one more home game against Zimmerman on the leap day, Thursday, February 29.

Their remaining away slate includes Becker, Chisago Lakes, Cambridge-Isanti, Princeton, Monticello and St. Francis.

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