North Branch outlasts Hibbing 60-56

North Branch and Hibbing traded runs in the 2nd half, and the Vikings got the final run, Sam Pederson scoring the last 4 points for a 60-56 win. Hibbing’s last lead was at 12-11, but the Bluejackets caught up at 34-all and at 56 before falling short at the end.

The Vikings led 32-30 at the half despite 20 points by Hibbing’s Abby McDonald, daughter of boys coach Joel McDonald and granddaughter of Chisholm’s 1000-game winner, Bob. She hit 4-of-7 3s in the half, and should have gotten 4 points for some of them, according to one spectator. (They were from extra long range.) In the 2nd half, she managed to make just 1-of-4 and score an additional 9 points for the Jackets.

North Branch pulled away from that 34-all tie with a 17-6 run to lead 51-40 at the 6 minute mark. Junior guards Pederson and Savannah Linkert each scored 5 points in the run. But Hibbing responded with a 16-5 run to tie it up at 56. McDonald scored on a dribble drive from the top of the key, then fellow sophomore Lizzy Tuomi scored off her own offensive rebound, then off an offensive rebound and assist by yet another sophomore McKenzie Maki. Maki then hit a jumper from the FT line, and McDonald scored on another drive, another long 3 and then from the right baseline to tie it up.

But Pederson then hit a pair of throws at 0:37, then after a Hibbing miss, she scored again on a breakaway at 0:08 for the final score.

McDonald had 29 points on 11-of-25 shots including 5-of-11 3s, but she also had 6 turnovers. Tuomi added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting with 13 boards, while Maki had 10 on 5-of-9 shooting with 5 boards. As noted, all 3 are sophomores.

Pederson and Linkert, the junior starting guards, scored 28 between them for the Vikings on 6-of-17 shooting. Youngsters Katherine Carlson, a 5-7 8th grader, and Haley Hadrava, a 5-8 freshman, were active off the bench, adding 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting with 9 boards. North Branch shot 19-of-48. Hibbing shot 23-of-57 and led 37-33 on the boards. But the Jackets also had 13 turnovers to 8 for the Vikings.