LEIPSIC – A 29 point third quarter Wednesday night helped lead the Leipsic Vikings to a season high 81 points on their way to an 81-39 victory over visiting Hardin Northern.
Hardin Northern picked up the first points of the game on a free throw from junior Nevin Robson under a minute into the contest but found themselves trailing just seconds later on the first of five three point goals by Jaden Siefker.
Through the early half of the opening eight minutes the two teams traded baskets and leads with the Polar Bears amassing an 11-6 advantage at 5:45 to go that forced Vikings coach Chris Kuhlman to burn a timeout. Unfortunately for the home team the timeout worked to key an opponent bucket from Lance Good that put his squad on top 13-6.
Leipsic baskets by Mason Brandt and Dillan Niese tied the game up at 13-13 and cued a run by the Vikings that ended with a 19-13 lead at the buzzer after hoops from Paul Maag and Lorenzo Walther.
“I felt like they really took it to us in the first half of the first quarter. They were the aggressors and had us on our heels. We really responded well after the timeout in the period. We challenged our guys to play harder and with more urgency and that’s exactly what they did” opined Leipsic fifth year head coach Chris Kuhlman after the game.
Leading to open the period and with a renewed focus from their head coach the Vikings turned to the duo of Brandt and Siefker who would answer the call and combine for a pair of threes and 14 of their 18 markers on the way to a 37-21 halftime lead.
“Jaden and Mason hit a few shots and our offense kind of snowballed. Jaden’s shooting has been consistent all year and has really allowed him to take his game to a different level and has allowed Mason to have games like tonight where he has seven or eight assists and seven or eight rebounds to go along with his scoring” said Coach Kuhlman.
The Vikings in the third quarter of play were nearly as good as they could possibly on the offensive end of the floor as they exploded for 29 points with seven players reaching the scoring column.
Three point goals by Mason Brandt and Jaden Siefker helped to continue to run the advantage higher and was aided on a triple by senior Mario Noriega during the run. Transition baskets for Leipsic from Dillan Niese and Paul Maag aided the running game and helped to turn miscues by the Polar Bears into points on the other end.
Trailing 66-29 after three quarters and having been held scoreless for a nearly four minute span Hardin Northern amassed just a trio of makes from the field in the last eight minutes, two of those three pointers by Luke Wilson in the early moments to keep themselves afloat. Leipsic subs Quin Schroeder and Kaleb Gillespie accounted for eight points in the final minutes that also saw Siefker toss in five on his way to a near career high 24 and an 81-39 victory.
In their first meeting with Leipsic since 2015 the Polar Bears (6-7) were led in scoring by Luke Wilson and Nevin Robson with 10 each. Robson’s chase of career point #1,000 will see him enter Friday night’s home game against Temple Christian with 967 career points.
Leipsic was paced by 24 from Jaden Siefker and 18 from leading scorer Mason Brandt. Next up for the Vikings (11-1) is a Saturday night trip to Kalida for a Putnam County League tilt against the 11-3 Wildcats.
Kuhlman added “When we can stay in transition like we did in the middle quarters it has really allowed our athletic bigs to get going offensively. Lorenzo (Walther), Dillan (Niese), Paul (Maag), and Kaleb (Gillespie) really run the floor well and that creates so many opportunities.
Scoring:
Leipsic (81):
Mason Brandt 18
Trey Schroeder 4
Quin Schroeder 2
Caleb Ellerbrock 5
Jaden Siefker 24
Dillan Niese 8
Paul Maag 8
Lorenzo Walther 6
Mario Noriega 3
Kaleb Gillespie 6
Hardin Northern (39):
Cole Morris 6
Owen Wetherill 6
Nevin Robson 10
Zeb Wilson 3
Luke Wilson 10
Lance Good
JV: 54-43 Leipsic