Knight Coach Kraig Hunter said, “I give a lot of credit to the Vikings on their play. They played a great game defensively and have a lot of different guys on offense that can shoot the three as they made ten of them in this game.  We have been playing a little sluggish on offense after the Christmas break but we showed a lot of grit again making key plays on both ends in crunch time.  Our guys played a great game defensively the entire 36 minutes and played with great poise down the stretch.”

The Knights had great balance scoring again as they’ve done all year. Jack VanKempen 14 points, 12 rebounds and 2 assists; Gage Staples 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocked shots; and Grant Beuckens 12 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal were all in double figures.  Christenson added 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals; Jacob Bright 4 points, 3 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 assists; Ryder Staples 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 1 assist; Brady Reeve 2 points and 1 rebound, and Blake Koloski had 2 steals and a rebound.

Jayden Rutherford had a big game for the Vikings with 18 points, Logan Fahje 7, Tanner Tollerud 7, McHale Korf 6, Logan Petznick 6, Hunter Williams 6, and Timmy Guler 2.

“The Knights have a lot of length and skill that gave us problems on both ends of the court, but we felt our guys really battled hard this afternoon,” said Pelican Rapids Head Coach John Gullingsrud.  “The effort to win was there, but we just weren’t able to make the plays down the stretch to come out on top.  It was an entertaining championship game of the holiday tournament as both teams really gave it all they had.”

Both teams shot 45% from the field. The Knights 21-47 and the Vikings 18-40.  The Knights hit 2-10 threes and the Vikings 10-24.  From the free throw line the Knights were 12-19 and the Vikings were 6-9.  The Knights had a 33-21 rebounding advantage.

Hunter said, "I think offensive rebounding was one of the keys to the game. Jack VanKempen had 7 of them himself and we had 10 as a team giving us a few more opportunities than the Vikings."

The Knights now move to 6-1 on the year.  The Vikings drop to 5-3.