Pelican Boys score big against Park Rapids

The Pelican Rapids boys basketball team traveled to Park Rapids Feb. 18 for a Heart O’ Lakes conference game versus the Panthers. 

A quick start for the Vikings gave them an early 21-8 lead. They still held a 37-21 lead with three minutes left in the first half, but an 8-0 run by Park Rapids to close the half cut the deficit to eight at the break. 

The Panthers managed to get within five at 43-38 early in the second half, but they would get no closer as the Vikings were able to hold them at bay for the remainder of the second half to secure a 72-63 win.

“We played well for the majority of the first half while building that sixteen point lead, but we struggled in the final few minutes before halftime to let them back in the game,” head coach John Gullingsrud said. 

“We got up by ten or twelve points a couple of times in the second half, but we just couldn’t put them away as we had a difficult time stringing stops together on the defensive end. We had a solid night shooting against their zone defense, which enabled us to maintain our lead against their second half runs,” Gullingsrud continued.

CJ Fahje knocked down a season high five 3-pointers on his way to a team high 19 points. Grady Larson had a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Jack Welch had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Fahje also had 6 rebounds, Miguel Torres had 9 points, and Ethan Isaman had 4 assists. The Vikings shot 47% overall from the field and connected on 9-19 (47%) of their three-point attempts. They outrebounded the Panthers 35-27 and forced them into 17 turnovers.