North Boone beaten back by Byron

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

There are times which could be worse for the North Boone Lady Vikings to have to deal with a lot of issues on the court. As the team continues to search for its identity, it quickly will learn to forget its recent meeting with the state-ranked and defending state-champion Byron Lady Tigers.

The Lady Vikings couldn’t compete, even into the earliest minutes, as Byron rolled to an impressive 70-point win, 86-12. The victory kept the conference and season mark perfect, with a 7-0 record.

For North Boone, it was a different story. The wins aren’t there for the taking at this time as they have suffered weekly setbacks.

Losses since the Tuesday, Nov. 15 match at Johnsburg have been starting to add up for North Boone.

Since completion of the Dakota Thanksgiving Tournament, North Boone has had to deal with Winnebago, Dixon, and Byron twice.

In those matches, the Lady Vikings scored around 35 points a game. In those wins, North Boone’s opponents have put up just under 70 points a game. They are statistically outplaying North Boone at a two-to-one ratio.

The schedule features a non-conference meeting with Marengo on Wednesday, Dec. 14 for North Boone, with a slight break from Big Northern play until the new-year arrives.

Tournament games will help wind down the 2016 portion of the winter sports schedule for the Lady Vikings. The 2017 half of the season is expected to bring new opportunities to show how much the Lady Vikings have learned since the season began. How much improvement is needed can also be identified. A lot of changes have happened for North Boone since their mid-November victory over Christian Life.

On Jan. 7, Clinton, Wis. visits North Boone, before the Lady Vikings travel to face the Harvard Lady Hornets on Thursday, Jan. 19.

Oregon visits North Boone on Tuesday, Jan. 24 as a final look at non-conference play greets the Lady Vikings in a Thursday, Jan. 26 meeting at Pecatonica.

With a closing stretch that features head-to-head battles with Rockford Lutheran, Mendota, and Genoa-Kingston still to play through, there is the chance unless a big turnaround helps usher in the second half of the winter sports season, that the North Boone Lady Vikings could be setting themselves up for a possible low seed and a serious threat in their opening round playoff game in late February.