The Cook County Vikings welcomed the Barnum Bombers to Grand Marais, but it was the Bombers who played like they were on their home turf. Barnum started out the game hot, with Claire Rogers scoring 9 of the first 13 Bomber points. Cook County found itself looking at a 4-17 deficit, after cold shooting and poor rebounding gave the Bombers numerous opportunities to score on their end. It was 14-33 at the break, with the Bombers knocking down six 3’s in the half.

The Vikings came out with much better defense in the second half and much more control on the offensive end. After 11 first half turnovers, the Vikes only committed 3 in the second half, but it didn’t lead to better shooting, where the Vikings shot just 32 %. The Vikings held the Bombers to just 6 points in the first 9 minutes of the 2nd half, the problem was, though, that the Vikes just scored 10 in that stretch. The Vikings turned up the defensive intensity for stretches but couldn’t get the score much closer than 14 and the Bombers pulled out the road victory. It was a deflating loss for the Vikings, who were on a 9-2 stretch where they had been playing good basketball. The Vikings will have to rebound and get things straightened out with back-to-back games next week, Thursday at home against Duluth Marshall and Friday at Floodwood. The home game on Thursday is only a girls game so it’d be a great time to check out the Viking J.V., followed by the Varsity, with some probable light show introductions. Come help get the intensity back into Cook County Girls Basketball!