Ironmen’s Erickson sparks second-half surge

Gavin Erickson hasn’t been the Vermilion Ironmen’s most prolific scorer this season.But when the Ironmen needed an offensive jolt last Saturday against Riverland, the sophomore from Esko delivered.Erickson nailed three three-point shots and scored 13 points during a 25-5 Vermilion run that secured a 73-64 nonconference win at the college gymnasium.After falling to Rochester the night before and a lethargic first-half performance against Riverland, Erickson fueled a rally that helped Vermilion improve to 6-3 and salvage a weekend split. Trailing 39-31, VCC rattled off 13 straight points - nine on Erickson three-pointers. Erickson continued to shine over the next several minutes, putting together perhaps his best stretch of play this season.“We needed that out of him,” Vermilion Head Coach Paul McDonald said of Erickson’s performance. “We’ve been looking for it. And then he got hot and everybody got a little bit of confidence. (Chisholm sophomore) Shea Amic came in and did a good job on defense. I thought overall we did a much better job defensively in the second half.”Riverland had little size, and Vermilion center Emory Williams took advantage down low. He scored 11 of his team-high 20 points in the second stanza and added nine rebounds.The Ironmen struggled in the opening 20 minutes and fell behind by six, but they led by as many as 15 points in the second half before Riverland made a late charge.Andre Morgan’s three-point play cut the lead to five with two minutes left, but that’s as close as it would get.Joe Mews added 11 points for the Ironmen, and while all-state guard Anthony Anderson was held to nine points - more than 10 below his season average - he contributed in other phases with 13 rebounds and six assists.“We responded well,” said McDonald. “Those Saturday games are tough because you never know what’s going to happen and how you’ll bounce back from the night before.Rochester 91, Vermilion 74The Yellowjackets dominated against the Ironmen, outscoring the hosts 20-1 in the first half to assume control of the contest.“I thought Rochester played extremely well,” said McDonald. “We never recovered from the first-half (run). We got it back to seven or eight in the second half but couldn’t do anything. And I got the same old adage from their coach afterward. Another team played their best game of the season against us.”Rochester’s Joey Kollar, a 6-5 forward, led all scorers with 28 points and was one of four Yellowjackets in double figures.Corey Ryan (15 points), Matt Gangelhoff (14) and Brett Schernecker (10) followed.Anderson had a double-double with 19 points and 10 assists for Vermilion, netting eight rebounds and four assists as well.Williams had a 17-point, 14-rebound night and Mews connected from long-range on the way to 15 points. Julius Durant added 12 points for the Ironmen.Vermilion is in Minneapolis this weekend for a four-team tournament hosted by the Marauders, Minnesota’s top-ranked team.That’s it for the Ironmen before a holiday break. They resume play Jan. 4 in a tournament at Brainerd, the final tune-up before the start of Northern Division play.