Vikings provide balanced offense

Vikings provide balanced offense

BY MATT WILSON mwilson@chronicle-tribune.com | Monday, December 3, 2012 

 While senior Noah Reed might have hit the big free throws down the stretch in the Huntington North boys’ basketball team’s 58-53 victory over Warsaw on Saturday night, different Vikings stepped up at various times in the victory.

Sophomore Caleb Landrum hit a 3-pointer in the third quarter to cap a 14-4 run, helping the Vikings rebound from a 33-25 halftime deficit and put them ahead 39-37.

After Warsaw took a 40-39 lead one minute into the fourth quarter, junior Kyle Platt hit a basket to put Huntington North ahead 41-40. Warsaw scored the next six points to take a 46-41 lead. Junior Matt Hogan was the one that stopped that rally by hitting a jumper with 3:39 remaining in the game.

As part of a 9-0 run, senior Kalvin Miller hit a 3-pointer to put the Vikings ahead 48-46 and Huntington North would never relinquish that lead.

Reed (13), Landrum (6), Miller (5), Hogan (5) and Platt (4) combined to score all the Vikings’ points in the second half.

“All of the guys stepped up and did what they needed to do,” Huntington North coach Rob Irwin said. “We will need to get better offensively, but tonight was a goodstep. You can’t back off anybody with our offense, because anybody can score.”

Seven different Vikings scored at least four points in the victory. Junior Keaton Irwin and senior Trenton Kern each had four points.

Behind Reed’s 11-for-12 effort from the foul line, Huntington North was 15-for-16 from the charity stripe.

Landrum made two 3-pointers to score all of his game’s six points in the third quarter.

“Caleb Landrum really stepped in that third quarter and hit some big shots,” Irwin said.

The players’ contributions went beyond the points. Kern finished with eight rebounds, three of those offensively.

Strong defense

The Vikings limited the Tigers to their second-lowest scoring output of the season. Columbia City limited Warsaw to 49 points in a 10-point victory on Nov. 24. That setback started Warsaw on its current three-game losing streak.

The Tigers have scored at least 60 points twice this season, and after Saturday’s first half-half performance they looked to be headed to that performance again. Warsaw went into halftime with 33 points and shooting 61 percent from the field.

In the second half, however, Huntington North limited Warsaw to 27 percent (6-for-22) shooting from the field. Warsaw senior forward John Swanson went into halftime with eight points, but didn’t score in the second half.

“Our team played very well defensively,” Reed said. “Defense is something that we practice day in and day out, and we had people really step up.”

The Vikingdefense forced Warsaw into nine turnovers, while Warsaw only had five turnovers.

Big win at right time

Saturday’s win came at a good time for the Vikings. The Vikings are now on a long road trip and won’t be back at home until Jan. 19 against New Castle.

“This win gives us a lot of momentum into a long road trip,” Reed said. “We are certainly excited about the win.”

The Vikings’ road swing begins Saturday at Carroll (Fort Wayne). Huntington then plays at Richmond on Dec. 14 and Fort Wayne Wayne on Dec. 15. Huntington then will play in the Carroll Shootout on Dec. 28-29.

Huntington North will play New Haven at the Fort Wayne Coliseum on Jan. 1. The Vikings will play at Anderson on Jan. 11 and Columbia City on Jan. 15.