Valiant effort by Viking boys came to end as clock ticked down–with Warroad scoring victory at Concordia

Jacob Gottenborg grabs a rebound, one of 11 he accumulated against Warroad March 11 at Concordia.
Right, McHale Korf drives to the basket. He scored 11 points for the Pelican Rapids High School Viking Boys.
Oakley Kress with eyes on the basket.
Nick Schermerhorn takes a shot.
Zack Sjolie scored eight points for the Viking boys, and pulled down six rebounds.
But in the final seconds of the game, Warroad scored to win by one point, and the agony of defeat is reflected
Pelican Rapids Vikings fans exhiliarated with the prospect of victory as the boys appeared to be securing victory in the second round of the playoffs march 11, at Concordia

Warroad’s Isaac Falk-Stoskopf led all scorers with 19 points, including the go ahead three-pointer with nine seconds left, as the Warriors beat Pelican Rapids 54-53 in a section 8AA quarterfinal playoff game played at Concordia College Saturday afternoon.

The Vikings led 26-23 at the half, and still held a 53-48 lead with under two minutes to play before Warroad closed the game with two three pointers in the final minute to escape with the win.

“That was a tough way for our season to come to an end,” head coach John Gullingsrud stated. “We went on a nice 10-0 run late in the game to go from down five to up five, but we weren’t able to hold it in those final few possessions. We made some critical mistakes in the final few possession that gave Warroad a chance to win it in the end, and they were able to make two big shots in that final minute.”

Falk-Stoskopf’s points came on 8 field goals and 1 three pointer during the game. Warroad also got 12 points from Tommy Vilayphone and 9 points from Philip Ness.

Pelican Rapids was led by Jacob Gottenborg’s 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Oakley Kress added 13 points, 7 rebounds, and a team high 4 assists. McHale Korf was also in double figures with 11 points, and Zack Sjolie had a solid game with 8 points and 6 rebounds. The Vikings struggled shooting the basketball as they were 20-57 (35%) from the field, 5-19 (26%) on threes, and 8-15 (53%) from the free throw line.

“Shooting the basketball well is always a key when a team plays a zone defense as Warroad did, and unfortunately we did not shoot the ball as well as we are capable of in this game,” said coach Gullingsrud. 

“I’m very proud of how our guys improved over the course of this season even though we came up short tonight. There are a lot of positives and things we can build on for next season. I’d like to give a special thanks to our coaches and players for all of the hard work they put into this season and to all the fans and parents who supported us along the way.”

Pelican Rapids ends the season with an 8-20 record, while the Warriors move to the section semifinals with a 13-15 record and will now face the top seeded Perham Yellowjackets.