The Pelican Rapids boys basketball team hosted Breckenridge in an HOL contest.

The Vikings trailed the conference leading Cowboys at the half 47-29, and Breckenridge dominated the second half as they cruised to an 84-45 win.

The loss puts the Vikings at 5-15 on the season and 2-6 in the Heart O’ Lakes conference.

Breckenridge improved to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

“We were sitting in a decent spot with about three minutes left in the first half at 41-29,” commented head coach John Gullingsrud. “Their little 6-0 run to close the half really killed any momentum we had heading into halftime. If we could have kept their lead to around 10 going into the half, I think our guys would have had more confidence heading into the second half. But, good teams like Breckenridge know how to close halves and open halves as they were able to put us away early in that second half.”

The Vikings were led on the night by Oakley Kress, who had 16 points. Hayden Christenson chipped in 7 points and 3 rebounds, and Zack Sjolie also had 6 points. Pelican Rapids once again struggled to shoot the ball as they were 15-41 (37%) overall and only made 2-15 (13%) threes. Breckenridge dominated the boards by a 38-23 margin and also forced the Vikings into 24 turnovers.

“Breckenridge plays a very aggressive style of defense as they pick you up full court and really get after you with ball pressure,” Coach Gullingsrud stated. “We handled their pressure much better than the first time we played, but they eventually wore us down and really took control in the second half.”