Pelican comes out on top of conference leaders

The Pelican Rapids girls basketball team hosted the Nuggets from Hawley in a Heart O’ Lakes conference match up Jan. 5.

The Vikings defeated the Nuggets 55-51 in a battle of the top teams in Section 8AA. 

 “We worked hard in both halves to earn this victory,” said coach Brian Korf.

Anna Roisum scored the first Pelican Rapids basket to tie the game at 2. Hazel Haugrud drained a 3-pointer from top of the key to give the Vikings a 5-2 lead. Pelican Rapids built a 15-8 lead with seven minutes left in the first half.

In the last seven minutes of the first half, the Vikings were outscored by the Nuggets 13 to 6. “We jumped out to a nice lead but did not finish the first half strong offensively or defensively, commented coach Korf.   

The game was tied at 21 at halftime.

At the beginning of the second half, both teams came out strong offensively. During the first six minutes of the second half, the Vikings outscored the Nuggets 14-9 to lead 35-30.  

With six minutes remaining, Pelican Rapids led 44-41. Over the next two minutes, Hawley took the lead at 46-44.  

At the three-minute mark, Morgan Korf tied the game up with a layup at 48. Hawley responded with a 3-pointer, and Korf then drove to the basket and scored to cut the Nugget lead to one, 51-50. With 90 seconds left, Korf drained two free throws for the Vikings to regain the lead 52-51.  

Pelican Rapids stopped Hawley from scoring, and Korf was fouled with under 20 seconds left in the game. Korf drained both free throws to put the Vikings up by three points, 54-51.

Hawley drove the length of the court and missed a layup which was rebounded by Kelsey Isaman.  Isaman was fouled and went to the free throw line and make 1 of 2 free throws to seal the victory for the Vikings.

Free throws boost Lady Vikings

Both teams shot 37% from the field. Pelican Rapids went to the free throw line 22 times and made 15. Korf made 11 of her 11 free throws. Hawley was 4 for 6 from the free throw line.    

Korf scored 34 points to lead the Vikings. Hazel Haugrud joined Korf in double figures with 10 points. Anna Roisum and Ellie Welch had 4 points each for the Vikings, and Isaman scored 3 points. 

Isaman led the team in rebounding with 9 rebounds, while Haugrud grabbed 6, and Korf grabbed 5. Roisum and Welch each grabbed 4 rebounds for the Vikings.  

Korf and Haugurd led the Vikings in steals with 4 and 2. Welch, Haugrud, and Korf led the team with 2 assists each.    

Barnesville, Breckenridge on tap this week

Pelican Rapids (9-2) will host Barnesville on Tuesday and play at Breckenridge on Friday in a pair of Heart O’ Lakes Conference games. “It will be a challenging week for us, and we will need to be ready to play with a lot of energy each night,” said coach Korf.