---

NORTH BRANCH GIRLS

The Lady Vikings were the only area team to pick up a win last week, and that was a 61-55 victory over Princeton on Tuesday, January 14. The win stretched NB’s streak to five in a row, but that was brought to a screeching halt against unbeaten Monticello. The Magic dominated NB 74-39 on Thursday, January 16.

North Branch 61, Princeton 55

The Vikings absolutely shell shocked the Tigers in the first half of the Mississippi 8 Conference match ip on Tuesday, January 14, but the Tigers turned the tables in the second half and North Branch did all they could to hold on. 

NB had balanced scoring in the first half, getting buckets from Ella Kuhlman, Bella Folkema and Katelyn Lattimore. They also played some of the best defense of the year so far in the first stanza, limiting the Tigers, who were above .500 coming into the game, to under a dozen points in a 34-11 half.

But, things unraveled defensively for teh Vikings in the second half, and although they were still able to make key shots, Princeton kept chipping away at the lead before North Branch wrapped it up late with some clutch free throws. The Tigers outscored NB 44-27 in the second half, making the game far closer than it looked like it was going to be early.

Folkema had a whale of a game for NB, scoring 16 points to go along with 15 rebounds and four blocks. Kuhlman had 15 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals in a typical all around game for her. Lattimore chipped in 10 points and five boards and Hailey Diaz had nine points.

Monticello 74, North Branch 39

NB ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Monticello on Thursday, January 16. The Magic haven’t lost a game this year, sporting a 15-0 record, and it showed. They dominated from start to finish, snuffing out North Branch’s five game win streak and showing they are the team to beat in the M8C.

Kuhlman had 11 points and four rebounds while Folkema had eight points and seven rebounds. For the Magic, star senior Samantha Voll had 25 points and seven assists. She led five players in double figures for Monti.

CHISAGO LAKES GIRLS

Zimmerman 36, Chisago Lakes 29

In the Wildcats’ pursuit of their first Mississippi 8 Conference win, they came up just short against Zimmerman, who was also winless in the conference at that point.

The low scoring affair was at CL High School on Tuesday, January 14 and featured just 29 points between the two teams in the first half, with Zimmerman leading 15-14. In the second half, the Thunder put down a few more baskets while the ‘Cats were mired in a poor shooting game, and that led to the tough loss.

Claire Beaver led CL with eight points and five rebounds. Kayla Larsen had six points and five boards.

St. Francis 48, Chisago Lakes 30

The ‘Cats hung in a bit against St. Francis on Thursday, January 16 considering the Saints were 5-1 in the conference, but again, a stagnant offense led CL to another tough loss.

Four players scored at least six points for CL, but the problem was nobody scored more than seven. RaeAnn Goehring netted the seven to go along with five rebounds, but then Beaver, Larsen and Madison Eagle each scored six points and each had five rebounds.

CHISAGO LAKES BOYS

Zimmerman 84, Chisago Lakes 57

The Wildcat boys’ team is still in search of their first win over a Minnesota team – their lone win came against Osceola – after dropping two blowouts last week.

Zimmerman, who is 12-2 and led by junior Thomas McEachern (a name very familiar to CL football fans, as he has run absolutely wild over the gridiron ‘Cats the past two years), took it to the Wildcats in the second half after a hotly contested 35-35 opening frame.

In the second half, Zimmerman exerted their talent and pulled away for the 27 points win, outscoring the ‘Cats 49-22.

Cohen Underhill was the only Wildcat in double digits, scoring 21 points for CL. Colton Betts had nine, Joe Couwenhoeven added nine and Blake Siefert had seven. McEachern had 26 points for the Thunder.

St. Francis 83, Chisago Lakes 57

Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, St. Francis also came into this game winless in the conference, but the game went much like the Zimmerman contest. CL kept it close in the first half, trailing just 33-30, but a second half explosion by the Saints and Connor Peterson left CL in the dust as they lost 83-57.

Couwenhoeven and Underhill combined for 28 points, but no other Wildcat scored over six points and they couldn’t get out of neutral in the second half while the Saints buzzed away. Peterson had a game-high 34 points for SF.

NORTH BRANCH BOYS

Princeton 82, North Branch 49

The Vikings’ losing streak hit seven games last week when they dropped matches to Princeton and Monticello.

Neither game was particularly competitive, either. Princeton hung up 51 points in the first half on Tuesday, January 14 and was up by 26 by the second half. Ethan Thorsen was the only Viking who could get anything going, as he scored almost half their points after netting 24. Jacob Knoespel added 10 in the losing effort. Noah Stencel had 23 for the Tigers and Matthew Hallberg added 19.

Monticello 98, North Branch 29

Things really took a turn for the worse when NB lost by nearly 70 points to Monticello on Thursday, January 16.

They had nobody score in double figures – Thorsen was their high scorer with nine – while Monticello’s Brayden Dollard outscored NB on his own, netting 30 points, and Jackson Soroka had 22. North Branch scored a season low nine points in the second half, even when Monti had long brought their back ups in.

---