Vikings end season with close games

By FAITH MOLDANBigfork Eagle

It seemed as if the Bigfork Vikings were unfazed by their sixth-place seeding in the Northwestern A Divisional tournament. The Vikes, who finished last in the conference with a 9-1 record, challenged No. 3 and No. 1 seeds Ronan and Polson during divisionals. Bigfork lost both games by less than 10 points. Ronan topped the Vikes 61-56 before the Pirates defeated Bigfork 48-40."We were definitely playing solid basketball at the end of the year," Bigfork coach Jim Epperly said. "I don't think anyone wanted to play us."

A must-win for the Vikes, Bigfork's second game of the Northwestern A Divisionals saw the Vikes come close to lengthening their season into a consolation game with a late fourth-quarter run.A 16-11 first quarter left the Vikes behind the Polson Pirates. Bigfork didn't budge from its 11-point mark for the first four minutes of the second quarter, as the Pirates stretched their lead to 10 points. Bigfork senior Levi Dockstader ended the Vikes' scoring drought with 3:49 in the second with a 2-point field goal. It took Bigfork two more minutes to score again, luckily in those two minutes the Pirates scored just three points.

Dockstader cut the Pirates' lead to eight with a 3-pointer and fellow senior Roland Benedict added two to end the first half at 27-20. He finished the game with three steals.Scoring was minimal for both teams in the third quarter. After three minutes the score was 29-22. Three minutes later the score hadn't changed much, as the Pirates led 31-23. Polson led 34-25 headed into the fourth quarter. Benedict handled the scoring for Bigfork in the fourth. He scored seven points in just over four minutes in the fourth quarter, including one 3-pointer.

The Vikes trailed Polson by seven points with less than a minute to play and traded baskets back and forth in that minute to end the game 48-40.Keenan Evans and Brock Boll grabbed six and eight rebounds respectively against Polson.

Bigfork opened the tournament against the only Northwestern A team it beat all season — the Ronan Chiefs. Less than a week after the Vikes' win over the Chiefs, Bigfork applied the same pressure it had in the Vikes' win and kept the Chiefs all tied up throughout the game. After two early ties in the first quarter, Ronan snuck ahead of the Vikes with less than a minute remaining. Bigfork had led 11-10 with 50 seconds on the clock, but the Chiefs led 14-11 at the end of the first.The Vikes tied the game at 16 apiece about two minutes into the second quarter. Ronan took the lead right back and led by as many as seven points before Bigfork came within two points with 2:52 to go. It was two-and-a-half minutes later that Bigfork was able to tie the game at 29-29. The teams took that tie into halftime.

All the ties came to an end with 6:12 remaining in the fourth quarter as Garrett Pewe assisted Scott Taylor's 2-point field goal, which tied the game at 46-46. Pewe, who had six assists and five rebounds in the game, had one of his better floor games, according to Epperly."He handled the ball well and made good decisions," Epperly said of Pewe.The score had been tied in the third quarter at 31-31, 33-33 and 39-39, but the Vikes never gained the lead. Dockstader tied the game at 33 apiece and brought the Vikes within one point of the Chiefs late in the quarter. Benedict added two to tie the game at 39-39.With a 45-42 lead,

Ronan used 3-point field goals and free throws to finish off the Vikes in the fourth quarter. While the Vikes received 2-pointers from Boll, Taylor, Evans and Benedict, the Chiefs made two 3-pointers and made 6-of-9 free throws. Bigfork's sole trey in the fourth came late — 12 seconds on the clock — from Benedict. Boll and Taylor led the Vikes in rebounding with seven and six rebounds, respectively."We didn't have enough defensive stops against Ronan," Epperly said. "It was the opposite against Polson. We couldn't shoot."The Vikes finish their 2007-2008 season 6-14 overall.

Bigfork 11 18 13 14 - 56

Ronan 14 15 16 16 - 61

BIGFORK - Ben Sandry 1 0-0 2, Scott Taylor 2 3-4 7, Roland Benedict 3 7-8 14, Garrett Pewe 3 2-2 8, Brock Boll 5 0-0 10, Keenan Evans 1 0-0 2, Levi Dockstader 5 1-3 13. Totals 20 13-16 56.

RONAN - Moss Tanner 8 10-15 26, Mike Fisher 3 2-2 8, Makenzy Kelch 4 1-2 9, Jordan St. Clair 1 0-0 2, Eddie Ness 1 0-3 3, Nolan Harris 3 1-4 10, Mike Crawford 0 1-2 1, Kyle Hendrickx 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 15-26 61.

3-point goals - Bigfork 3 (Dockstader 2, Benedict), Ronan 4 (Harris 3, Ness).

Total fouls - Bigfork 21, Ronan 16.

Fouled out - Boll, Dockstader.Loser outBigfork 11 9 5 15 - 40Polson 16 11 7 14 - 48

BIGFORK - Ben Sandry 2 0-0 4, Scott Taylor 0 2-2 2, Roland Benedict 5 0-0 11, Garrett Pewe 2 1-2 5, Brock Boll 4 0-0 8, Levi Dockstader 3 0-0 8, Keenan Evans 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-4 40.

POLSON - Craig Bagnell 0 2-2 2, John Rausch 0 5-6 5, Waylon Michel 1 0-3 2, Cody Doyle 2 0-0 4, Tim Rausch 2 4-6 8, Aaron Clairmont 4 2-2 13, Ryan Kelley 1 5-10 7, Zach Langston 3 1-6 7. Totals: 13 19-35 48.

3-point goals - Bigfork 3 (Dockstader 2, Benedict), Polson 3 (Clairmont 3).

Total fouls - Bigfork 26, Polson 10. Fouled out - Taylor, Dockstader.