As Saturday morning slowly rolled itself out of bed and rubbed the sleep from its tired eyes, the 8th grade “B” team laced up its high tops as it hosted a “B” team tourney in Boucher. In the first game, the Vikes took an early lead, and while giving up more points than usual, clobbered the Komets 53 to 33 to meet Willowcreek in the championship game.
In the battle for tourney trophy, the Vikes were just too much for the Braves, and BF hoisted the hardware with a 47 to 22 win. For the weekend, Neil Whitfield had outstanding stats, scoring 22 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and firing off 7 assists. Also contributing, Jacob Bekelya fired in 15 points, while Jordan Gallardo also contributed 15 points, 5 assists, and 6 steals. Furthermore, Jake Catarello tallied 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, Cory Fox picked-off 8 steals to top the team, and Michael Krutz hammered down 10 boards.
But while these players topped the charts, every BF player contributed in some way to the wins. Great win guys.
The boys 7th grade B Team hosted their annual tournament this past Saturday. They demolished LaPorte Kesling in Game 1 winning 54-4. The team combined for 27 steals and dominated the game in all phases. All 11 players scored led by Kyle Kaminski's 9 followed by Tony Carpenter, Ryan Wexelberg, Dominic Snemis and Daniel Gholston with 6 apiece. Dan Wimberley owned the boards pulling down 8 with Eric Yiankes grabbing 5 and Matt Emerson with 4.The highlight play of the day came when Emerson followed up his own shot and tipping the rebound in mid-air to an open teammate for a layup.
The team also combined for 23 assists on the 25 shots that were made in the game again proving the unselfish play the team possesses. Andrew Lehnen led the way with 6 dishes. Again, defensive pressure proved to be too much for Kesling to handle. Kyle Kaminski led the team with 7 swipes followed by Jacob Wallace and Matt Emerson each with 4. By winning game 1, the Vikes earned an opportunity to play Crown Point Taft for the championship.
Unfortunately, the team started the game "as cold as the other side of the pillow". Crown Point took advantage and started the game hitting on all cylinders. Before we knew it, the Vikes had spotted them a 20-0 lead. At halftime, the score was 21-4 and the team was determined to get back in the game in the second half. They came out fired up and applied pressure throughout the entire 2nd half and made it interesting before falling 39-29. Kyle Kaminski again led the scoring attack with 8 followed by Daniel Gholston's 7.
Jake Pancek chipped in with 5 during very limited action due to injury. Dan Wimberley dominated the boards again pulling down 8 with Daniel Gholston grabbing 6. Andrew Lehnen played extremely hard and contributed with 4 points, 4 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal. I was very proud of the effort and determination shown by the Vikes. It would have been easy to give up being down so much early in the game and they showed a lot of courage and fight. Next up for the Vikes is Hobart on Monday night at Hobart and Portage Willowcreek on Tuesday night in Portage.
To view stats from the game, click here.