Vikes remain undefeated

Last Monday night, the Vikings hosted the Griswold Tigers and rallied to a 70-48 victory and a 5-0 start on the season.
Stanton’s lead scorer in the season, Drake Johnson, was off mark in the first quarter, and the teams were tied at 14 as the buzzer sounded.
The second quarter went back and forth in scoring. The Vikings spread out the shooting, and the Tigers kept hitting the hoop, also.
At the end of two quarters, the Vikings were up 29-27.
“We adjusted our defense the second half and executed better in both ends of the court to help us pull away in the second half,” Donnie Weis said of the Vikings’ change of pace after halftime.
The game turned around in the third quarter, when the Vikings outscored the Tigers by 17 points. Johnson began hitting his mark, and the Vikings split the tally between six players in the win.
Johnson led the team with 20 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Dillion Rocha scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Connor Hultman had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, steals, and assists.
Donnie Weis had nine points, six rebounds and five assists, and Easton Hultman and Reece Anderson scored eight and seven points, respectively.
“We played a little smarter the second half,” Rocha said. “My teammates were able to get me the ball a little better inside to get some good looks.”
Sidney
The following night, the Vikings traveled to Sidney to take on the Cowboys, who had only one loss this year, and came away victoriously 60-41.
“Connor held their leading scorer to 10 points, and we were happy with our defense and offense the first three quarters,” coach Kevin Blunt said. “We got a little too aggressive and gave them opportunity to go to the line.”
The Vikings were led by Drake Johnson with 29 points and six rebounds.
Connor Hultman scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and three steals, and had four assists.
Dillion Rocha scored eight points and had seven rebounds and four steals, and Reece Anderson had six points and seven rebounds.
Easton Blunt and Donnie Weis rounded out the points with three apiece.
Clarinda Academy
Rounding out the week, the Vikings sailed to a victory over Clarinda Academy on Thursday, Dec. 22, 65 to 45.
Both teams started slowly with only nine points scored for each team in the first quarter. But the Vikes started hitting their shots better as the second quarter began, and they outscored the Eagles by 17 points.
The third quarter was low scoring again, but by the last eight minutes, both teams were shooting consistently.
“We had a strong second quarter,” Viking coach Kevin Blunt said. “But we put them at the free throw line too mnay times.”
Drake Johnson wowed the crowd with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Connor Hultman registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Chris Herbert scored eight points, Dillion Rocha six points and 10 rebounds, and Reece Anderson six rebounds and three steals.
The 7-0 Vikings return to action Tuesday, Jan. 10 with an away game against Heartland Christian.