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GRANITE CITY 

CLASSIC

North Branch 59, Hutchinson 50

North Branch rode their big time players in their second win of the season, beating the Hutchinson Tigers 59-50 in the opening game of the Granite City Class in Sauk Rapids on Friday, December 27.

Only four players scored for the Viings, but three of them were at least 15 points, highlighted by Jacob Knoespel’s 21. Ethan Thorsen chipped in 16 points and Vinny Dufeck added 15 in the winning effort.

Tyler Minke was the only other Viking to score, netting seven points.

The Vikings pretty much built their margin of victory in the first half, going up 30-22 before the break, and then they held the Tigers at bay in the second half, outscoring them 29-28.

Landon Teetzel led the way for Hutch with 14 points and Nathan Johnson added 12.

Rocori 67, North Branch 54

The second game in the tournament didn’t go as well for the Vikings. They took on the Rocori Spartans, who had beaten Grand Rapids 59-43 in their opener.

Rocori used a second half explosion to turn what was a close game into a 13 point win for the Spartans.

Minke and Knoespel anchored the North Branch offense with 16 and 15 points, respectively, but they ran out of gas in the second half.  Thorsen added nine for NB. Grant Tylutki of Rocori, who was the St. Cloud area football player of the year, scored 25 points. TJ Starkey and Broderic Woods both added 15 for Rocori.

The split record moved NB to 2-5 on the year. They’ll get into their conference schedule pretty quickly after break, but first they’ll take on Hibbing on Saturday, January 4 in Hibbing at 2 p.m.

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