Vikings sailing towards season’s end

By Chris Johnson

REPORTER

The North Boone Vikings boys’ basketball team has not had the chance this season to explore all the options available to them. They have worked through a rigorous Big Northern Conference schedule and have had to deal with former regional and sectional champions along the way.

Now, with the final weeks of the season just ahead, the Vikings can look past their current season mark and set their sights upon a new goal.

At the beginning of each season, many athletes share a goal of the hope of chasing down a conference title or working into a regional championship game.

As numbers line up, certain hopes are removed. Others though, still remain and with the right amount of timing and luck, can still be achieved.

Recent losses to Richmond-Burton and Rock Falls in successive fashion have brought a little more attention to some of the needs on the defensive front.

In the Saturday, Jan. 21 match at Rock Falls, North Boone gave up 75 points. They scored about a third of the total allowed.

In the match against Richmond-Burton, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Vikings gave up 82. The scored a bit more, as they tallied 38.

Games within the Big Northern Conference will help North Boone wind down this season. The chance to improve upon the 0-4 mark within the conference is available, but it will take a little extra work and fortune.

Action continued for the Vikings on Tuesday, Jan.24 as they visited LaSalle County for a meet-up with the Mendota Trojans. Details of that contest will be available in one of next week’s edition of the Belvidere Daily Republican.

A home game greets North Boone on Wednesday, Feb. 1 as they face Dixon. The rest of the season keeps things moving. The home-and-away set-up begins on a visit to Rockford Christian on Saturday, Feb. 4 and ends on Monday, Feb. 13 at home, as the Vikings take on Christian Life.

The final two games of the regular season will be played at home as the Vikings take on Stillman Valley on Tuesday, Feb. 14 and follow it up with a match against one of the Big Northern frontrunners, Genoa-Kingston, on Friday, Feb. 17.

The IHSA Class 2A State Playoffs begin the third week of February and North Boone appears to be preparing to head to Rockford Christian for the regional round. Two regional locations take part in the Byron Sectional fill-in scheme. Until the IHSA Selection Committee has a chance to meet, assignments and seeds cannot be effectively set.

In the post-season, North Boone will have its second chance to try to make everything count one more time on the floor, before the cleats replace the sneakers on the tracks and fields. It will take focus, luck, and confidence. Everyone starts the season and unless a team wins it all, the last game each team’s seniors will ever play will end in a loss. There’s nothing to lose when you find the win streak.