Sports : Vikes drop opener at Maquoketa, 62-51

MAQUOKETA - A cold night of shooting is never good in basketball, but it's even worse when your opponent is hot.Coach Joe Johnson's Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings dropped their season opener Tuesday, falling 62-51 to Maquoketa on the (long) road. The Vikings led the game most of the first half and took a 28-24 lead into the locker room at intermission.But the hot-shooting Cardinals outscored the Vikes 38-23 in the second half to pull away for the win. Probably the most telling statistic of the game came from outside the three-point arc. Maquoketa converted 10 of 17 three-pointers, while the Vikings were held to three of 19. Couple that V-S's 40 percent shooting from the free throw line and the story was easy to read."It's hard to beat a team that is shooting that well when you're not," Johnson said. "We didn't play that badly but their shots went in and ours didn't, but it will come."Sam Griffith led the Vikings with 18 points, along with five boards. Jose Wilson added 11 points and led the team with seven rebounds and five steals. CJ Rickles added eight point and five rebounds, with David Lapan-Islas added six points, Elijah Kalous five, Sam Moon three.The Vikings continue a busy week tonight as they host the Union Knights in the nightcap of a girls/boys double header beginning at 6 p.m. Friday the Vikings will welcome the Solon Spartans to Garrison Fieldhouse.