It’s barely December, yet the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Vermilion have combined to travel more than 5,000 miles already this season.
True “road warriors” during the nonconference season, the Ironhawks finally get a break this weekend - as both have two-game homestands at the college gym.
Anoka-Ramsey was in town last night for a women’s and men’s doubleheader, while Saturday brings Riverland to town, with the women’s game starting at 1 p.m., and the men to follow with a 3 p.m. tip-off.
Both teams will be tested against high-caliber opposition.
The Vermilion women, who have already matched last season’s win total of five, will face an Anoka-Ramsey team that ranks first in the nation among Division III junior college teams.
The Rams downed Vermilion 87-67 in a mid-November neutral-site clash, but coach Ryan Zyla and his Ironhawks were gunning for the home court rematch.
Vermilion has already defeated Riverland twice this season in women’s basketball.
Under new head coach Matt Shonder, the Ironhawks men’s basketball team is showing improvement despite a 1-8 mark in what has been a brutal non-conference stretch.
Vermilion was competitive in a Nov. 2 loss to Anoka- Ramsey in Austin, while Riverland comes to Ely and brings a team that has made back-to-back appearances in the national tournament.
The homestand is a mere break in a heavy travel period. Both Vermilion teams go to Worthington and Willmar the weekend of Dec. 1213, and the women have a trip to Iowa planned before Christmas.
After this weekend, neither team is at home again until Jan. 10.
