Cook County girls win at Carlton, boys lose close game

 
Lily Gruber-Schulz scored 24 points Friday night to lead the Cook County Viking girls to a 57-54 road basketball win over Carlton.
 
The Viking boys lost a close game 44-42 to Carlton after nearly overcoming an eight-point deficit at the end of the first half.
 
The Vikings outscored the Bulldogs 40-29 in the first half of the girls’ game. The Bulldogs came back to take a 25-17 advantage in the second, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Vikings. Cook County upped its record to 6-12 with the win.
 
The Viking victory came despite being out-shot at the free-throw line. The Bulldogs hit 18 of 25 from the charity stripe while Cook  County only managed five of 21.
 
In addition to Gruber-Schulz’s game-high 24, Theresa  Morrin had 16 for the Vikings. Also scoring were Breana Peterson with eight, Kaitlynn Linnell with five and Jordyn Deschampe with four.
 
Clarissa Nelson led the Bulldogs with 23 points while Tori Zime had 10.
 
The Viking boys didn’t fare as well as the girls. Carlton managed to escape Cook County by two points, 44-42. The loss dropped the Vikes to 8-5 for the season.
 
The Bulldogs outscored the Vikings 25-17 in the first half before the Vikings came back to take a 25-19 second-half advantage, falling just short.
 
Colin Everson hit 20 for Cook County followed by Kale Boomer with 11. Lars Scannell scored five while Jonny Jacobsen hit four and Peter Warren hit one.
 
Erik Adams and Lane Empson led the Bulldogs with 16 and 11 respectively.
 
The Vikings’ boys and girls teams host the  Silver BayMariners in Grand Marais on Monday night followed by a visit from the Mesabi East Giants on Tuesday night.