The 2nd half played out to be just as much a slugfest as the 1st half, with physical play inside dictating that neither team could really get any flow. The Tigers tight 2-3 zone kept the Vikings from driving to the basket but left the guards open shots on the perimeter. The court leaders for the Vikings on this night would prove to be the young guards of Ailee Larson and Deschampe as they both drained big shots in the half. Larson nailed two 3's and Deschampe poured in 16 more points, including clutch drainos when the Vikings needed them. With Nelson and Boomer in constant foul trouble, the guards, along with sophomore Bekah Laky and Morrin proved to be stabilizing forces, keeping the game under control. After Nelson fouled out the Vikings took a small 7 point lead that Cherry cut to 3 with 30 seconds to go. A timeout was called to obviously give the ball to Deschampe but after catching the inbounds pass she passed it back to Boomer who, after being! fouled, went to the line to shoot a 1 and 1 with 20 seconds on the clock.  Boomer bricked the freebie but Morrin crashed the boards hard and forced the ball off of the Tigers. The Viking inbound went to Larson who was quickly fouled. She also missed the front end of the 1 and 1, but Morrin was there again, this time ripping the board away from the Cherry girl and getting fouled in the process. The freshman went to the line and calmly sank her first shot, which pushed the lead to 4 at 47-43. She missed the second shot and Cherry banked in a 3 with 3 seconds left to cut the lead to 1, but Deschampe was fouled with 0.1 seconds left. She made the first free throw and missed the second but with such little time left on the clock, it was impossible for the Tigers to get even a desperation shot off. The VIkings escaped with the 48-46 win and advance to play the Nashwauk-Keewatin Spartans at 7:45 on Wednesday night at University of Minnesota Duluth in the Section 7A Semifinals.

 The Vikings were led in the game by Deschampe's 27 points, with Larson adding 10. The two girls, though, also played an important role by staying on the court when other Vikings were struggling in that department. Larson played the entire 36 minutes while Deschampe only sat out the last 10 seconds of the 1st half to keep from getting a cheap 3rd foul. Already playing without 1st team All-Conference selection Essa Jacobsen, the other All-Conference selections Nelson and Boomer each played less than half of the game, leaving the Viking bench to pick it up. The game was a perfect example of team basketball, with girls picking it up when others are struggling, but the Vikings will need more from their leaders if they plan on advancing here on out. A great night of basketball is planned for Wednesday, with a rematch of last years Section Championship game to be played at 6:00 between Bigfork and Floodwood, followed by the N/K and Cook County. The four teams left have been looking forward to these match-ups all y! ear, as they have proven to be the top teams in the section and all have over 20 wins. The Vikings go into their game with a 23-4 record and are looking to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2003.