Chalberg Sparks Barnum Comeback

Dan Lingle – For NSO

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Feb 25

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

BARNUM- It seemed the Barnum Bomber boys basketball team wanted to follow the same course as the Lady Bombers Friday night as the Bombers fell behind early but rebounded for 55-42, 13 point win at home over the Vikings of Cook County in a Polar League contest.

The Bombers came out slow as Cook County jumped out to an early seven point lead by scoring the first seven points of the game. The Bombers were playing man to man defense, but the quickness of the Viking allowed for several easy baskets and the lead for the Vikings. The Bombers then switched defensive schemes as they moved into a 2-3 zone to stop the quick drives to the basket.

The same time as head coach Richard Newman changed defensive styles it was senior center Luke Chalberg coming off the Bomber bench and sparking the Bombers as they closed out the first half with a 25-11 run and built a seven point, 25-18 lead at halftime. Chalberg scored 10 of the 25 first-half points and grabbed several key rebounds as the Vikings tried to stay with the Bombers.

The second half saw the Bombers jump out quickly to a 20 point lead. Josh Hogan alongside Bobby Minkkinen, and Andrew Youngren capitalized on good ball movement and high percentage shots as the Bomber win this Polar League battle by 13 points. Cook County did manage one last run at Barnum late in the second half, but it was too little to late as Barnum withstood the challenge and picked up the win.

Barnum was led by Hogan who finished with 13 points on the night. It was Bobby Minkkinen and Luke Chalberg both ending with 10 points, Andrew Youngren chipped in with 8, Danny Warpula and Justin Newman each finished with 5, and it was Jacob Naslund closing the bombers scoring with 4 points.

Cook County was led in scoring by David Bergstrom, who finished with a game high 16 points in the Vikings loss. Only three other players found the scoring column Friday as Kale Boomer added 15 points, Ryan Martinson added 8 points, and it was Dylan Quaife rounding out the Cook County scoring as he finished with 3 points in the loss.

Barnum improves to 19-5 on the season and they are back in action on Tuesday when they host East Central. The Bombers close out the regular season next Friday at home against AlBrook-Cotton. Cook County falls to 10-9 on the season and they will face Two Harbors next Tuesday at home to finish their regular season schedule.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com