North Boone begins brief break in season

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

The winter sports season is about one half over for the North Boone Lady Vikings, and a lot of things have begun to start showing up in regards to how things might shape up within the Big Northern Conference.

It is commonly understood that the defending Class 2A State Champion Byron Lady Tigers are going to be tough to beat.

It’s also known that the Winnebago Lady Indians are the defending Class 2A Regional Champion.

One of the unfortunate realities of play within the conference is that the Lady Vikings are probably going to have to deal with those two talented programs as well as attempt to survive attacks from Dixon, Rockford Lutheran, and Genoa-Kingston before any talk of post-season pushes can begin.

At this point, the wins continue to be tough to lock down for North Boone. Recent matches against former State Champions Dakota, Aquin Catholic, and Byron over the past two weeks of play have heightened the focus on the struggles the Lady Vikings continue to try to work through.

In a handful of games, beginning on Saturday, Nov. 26, North Boone has been outscored 261 to 142. A 70-point loss to Byron on Tuesday, Dec. 6 was added to the recent totals.

Now, with games against Dixon dealt with and non-conference clashes with area teams Marengo and Harvard waiting, the Lady Vikings prepare to re-enter the Big Northern schedule in 2017.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Lady Vikings take on the Oregon Lady Hawks in a game where hope has to be present for a possible win. A non-conference battle with the vastly-improved Pecatonica Lady Indians is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26 with the Big Northern attention being paid to Rockford Lutheran on the road on Saturday, Jan. 28.

February opens with a home game against Genoa-Kingston. The Lady Cogs recently were named the undisputed champion of the annual Pecatonica Girls’ Basketball Holiday Tournament which wrapped up on Thursday, Dec. 15. The visit from Genoa-Kingston precedes the season finale against the Mendota Lady Trojans on Saturday, Feb. 4.

The current position the North Boone Lady Vikings have been working from is one of redevelopment.

With the amount of talent that North Boone has to face, seemingly every night in the Big Northern Conference, the pounding is beginning to take its toll.

However, the effort remains strong. Hope exists for the possibility of rediscovery over the next few weeks of the season. Spending time attempting to figure out how to achieve wins on a regular basis is a step in a process which can lead a team back to competitiveness. North Boone can get there and probably will achieve that goal before the regular-season comes to a close in early February.