Vikings punch ticket to 2A-7 Championship game

STUART – The AHSTW Vikings didn’t underestimate the Van Meter Bulldogs and controlled the game from start to finish Tuesday night winning 64-49 to earn a chance to play for the 2A-7 Championship. Senior Brayden Lund led the way with 20 points.

“We knew Van Meter has a really good team, we knew that coming in,” Lund said. “The game plan was to make them have to guard a lot of closeouts and make it really tough for them on defense. When you combined making them have tough closeouts with our confidence that we shot with tonight, it’s a real dangerous thing for us, so that was big coming in.”

The Vikings opened the game on a 5-0 run with Senior Kyle Sternberg dropping the first bucket followed by a 3-pointer from Senior Cole Scheffler. Senior Bulldog Aydn Netten got his team on the board when he was fouled, making 1 of 2 free throws.

The Bulldogs were starting to chip away at the Vikings, but Junior Nick Denning silenced their crowd when he hit a shot from 3-point range that got the Vikings fan base to its feet. Soon after, Denning came down court and made another 3-pointer with the Vikings crowd erupting with applause.

“We had to force multiple closeouts, so along with that everybody was open and I just took my opportunity to shoot it and it went in this time,” Denning said.

The Bulldogs were keeping themselves within striking distance of the Vikings when Netten was fouled, making 1 of 2 free throws, chipping away at the Vikings lead and putting his team down by 4 entering the second quarter.

Lund opened the second quarter with a bucket. Senior Ryan Wedemeyer got in on the action and hit a 3-point shot, forcing Bulldogs head coach Jed Alexander to call a timeout with his team trailing by 9.

When play resumed, Lund was fouled on a made shot, missed the extra point attempt, but his team continued to score, taking a 34-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“They’re going to go on a run,” said Vikings Head Coach G.G. Harris. “Get ready for their run. They’re going to look to get real physical real early, so stay fundamental and that’s on both ends of the court. Stay under control, two foot jumps tops, whatever the case is, and always be ready for the next play.”

Denning opened the second half with a bucket, followed by Sternberg getting fouled on a made shot. He missed the extra point, but Sophomore Luke Sternberg was there to grab the rebound and keep the ball in the hands of the Vikings.

Senior Bulldog Carter Durflinger came down court, made a 3-point shot, cutting the Vikings lead to 11 points. Harris called a timeout with five minutes remaining in the quarter to settle his team down.

Alexander called a timeout a few minutes later when Lund made a 3-point shot putting the Vikings up by 16. The quarter ended soon after with the Vikings leading 51-35.

The Vikings opened up the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run putting them up by 21 when Alexander called another timeout with less than five minutes to go. When play resumed, Lund was fouled, made both free throws and had his team up with a commanding 23-point lead.

The Vikings ultimately closed out the game and punched their ticket to the 2A-7 Championship game. Lund finished with 20 points, [Kyle] Sternberg with 14 and Denning with 13.

“A young man like Nick Denning sticks out, who doesn’t usually fill the stat line and for him to come out and have 13 points and play stellar defense, I’m super proud of him and we needed that,” Harris said.

For the Bulldogs, their season ends with a 16-7 record. Denning congratulated them on a great season and a hard fought battle.

“They were tough, I’ll tell you that,” he said. “They really pushed us around and they’re a bunch of great guys out there.”

The Vikings will play the 17-6 Des Moines Christian Lions Saturday night at ADM High School in the 2A-7 Championship game. The Lions are led by Juniors Landon Craven with 332 points and Tate Platte with 161 rebounds and 70 assists.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves,” Lund said. “Keep playing tough defense and shoot the ball with confidence and see where it’ll take us.”