Vikings sail to end of season

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

The winter sports season has come to a close at North Boone High School. The 54-29 loss on Monday, Feb. 21 to 10-seed Oregon in the opening round of the Class 2A Rockford Christian Regional sealed the deal for the Vikings.

North Boone worked through a rough year following their exit from the winter sports’ season-opening tournament in Pecatonica. They were 0-3 in the Thanksgiving Tip-off Classic.

They seemed to have a couple solid pieces in place. They just hadn’t locked down that first win yet.

On Dec. 6, North Boone got its victory. They beat their nearest neighbor to the east, Harvard, 48-45. They stood strong late and made the free throws count.

There were adjustments and there was a sense of opportunity this season as the Vikings began with the 1-3 mark. They had played strong against Warren and Pecatonica. The Warriors were 4-0 in the Pecatonica Tournament. The Indians were 3-1 in the same Thanksgiving tip-off. North Boone lost to two teams playing very well early.

In early December at Harvard, the season was still young. There was a chance to build and adjust to the demands that would be waiting. The Vikings just couldn’t find the pieces this season to make it work. The shot never revealed itself as North Boone worked until mid-February before welcoming in Stillman Valley and claiming their second win of the season. It was a good game too, the closest North Boone had experienced in quite some time.

Prior to the 11-point win over the Cardinals, North Boone hadn’t been within 13 points on the final scorecard, with the exception of the win over the Hornets, all season.

The way the schedule unfolded, opportunity never seemed to happen. Success wouldn’t allow all the pieces to work in sync. The end result was North Boone struggled in the final standings with a 2-22 mark. They didn’t find a lot of success inside the conference either.

The boys’ basketball team won only once in the Big Northern this year. Through December and into the New Year and weeks ahead, losses by 20 and 30 points added up. It helped forge the sense of missed chanceS that carried the Vikings into mid-February.

Optimism showed up and helped carry North Boone into the post-season courtesy of a recent conference win.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Vikings worked to a nearly double-digit win over the Stillman Valley Cardinals 54-45. The win came at a perfect time as the Vikings’ defense had been harassed in the matches prior.

On Friday, Feb. 10, Rockford Lutheran scored 88 points and won by over 50. The Crusaders were on fire and the Vikings’ defense couldn’t put it out. North Boone fell 88-35.

In their next game, the Vikings did the same. They had almost 90 thrown against them in a loss to the Big Northern Regular Season Champion, the Rockford Christian Royal Lions. They lost by 30, 88-58. The season-long loss-streak fell to 17 for North Boone.

Now with the post-season loss, a lid can be placed on winter for the North Boone Vikings. The next step for the student athletes is already underway as uniforms were returned. The coaches have already been getting things in line for the upcoming season, which starts in about nine months.