Boys start season with pair of wins at area tournament

A new coach, new philosophies for the program, an almost entirely new team and new opponents have brought a lot of change to the Bigfork Vikings basketball team, but so far that change looks good on them as they start the season 2-0 after the Tip Off Tournament in Polson and Ronan on Friday and Saturday.

Bigfork took down Frenchtown on Friday morning 74-49 and defeated Anaconda the following afternoon 79-61.

The Vikings led 18-14 over Anaconda at the end of the first quarter, but extended that lead to 39-25 by the end of the first half.

"We had a really good first half," said Paul LaMott, Bigfork High School head boys basketball coach. "There were a few areas we felt we needed to improve on though, so I was really impressed with our ability to go out in the third quarter and really shine."

Bigfork put up 26 points in the third quarter while holding Anaconda to 15.

The fourth quarter got a little shaky for the Vikes, though, as the starters who had been pulled out of the game due to Bigfork's sizable lead had to be put back in to ensure that they didn't lose it. Anaconda scored 21 points in the final period while Bigfork was able to get just 14.

"Going into it, we felt it was a team that we could go up against and compete well with and even beat, so I'm glad that we were able to come away with the win," LaMott said.

Senior Keenan Evans led the way for the Vikes with 16 points. Junior Evan Jordt contributed 14 points, while fellow junior Carter Sorensen added 12, including two 3-pointers, and senior Lael Richmond put up 10.

"Keenan had a really good game for us," LaMott said. "Lael was a monster on the boards and Evan had a really strong game."

The Vikings were without one of their starters, junior Travis Knoll, who was out of town, so junior Ben Sandry took his place.

"Ben played very well considering he had been hampered by back problems, so he wasn't in the physical condition he'd like to be in," LaMott said. "I thought he gave us some really good minutes though."

The back problems LaMott is referring to are the result of a football injury Sandry incurred earlier this year. (For more on this, see page B2, for this week's installment of the Eagle's series "Getting back in the game.")

On Friday, Bigfork was slow to start in their game against Frenchtown. The teams were tied at 14 points a piece after the first quarter and Bigfork led by just six points at the half, 31-25. Bigfork further extended their lead in the third by outscoring Frenchtown 15-10.

"I'm pretty thrilled that we won our first game," LaMott said. "We had some first half jitters, which is to be expected. They calmed down and were able to find themselves halfway through the third quarter."

However, it was in the fourth quarter that the Vikings really came alive. Evans put in two field goals and three free throws, Knoll had a 3-pointer and a layup, Sandry was five for six from the free-throw line and Jordt put in one from the line and two from the field.

And, most of that was just in the first five-and-a-half minutes, before LaMott started pulling his starters since they held a 64-48 lead. But those who finished the game for Bigfork didn't let up. Defensively, they didn't allow Frenchtown to score again until the final seconds of the game, and even then it was just one point. Meanwhile, they added another 10 points to the Vikings' score, including a 3-pointer by sophomore Cody Dopps and a pair of free throws by Sorensen.

"I thought it was fantastic," LaMott said. "Not only were they able to maintain the level of play, but they extended the lead."

Jordt had a game high 17 points and Evans had 14.

"Evan (Jordt) played very well for us and led us in scoring," LaMott said. "Keenan did well too, with 14 points and some crucial rebounds and blocks."

Sandry and Knoll had 11 and 10, respectively.

"We had a strong effort and game from Travis, which we expected," LaMott said. "We got a great effort from Ben. He finally showed that he is willing to believe in this program, which is great because we really need him."

LaMott has been working with the team on defense during the pre-season, and he already saw some results from that in their first game.

"Travis took a charge in this game and multiple players, instead of leaving their feet, attempted to take a charge," LaMott said. "We produced over 10 steals, most of which were due to our defensive press."

Although the Tip Off Tournament consisted of only Class A schools besides Bigfork, LaMott still felt that it was a good experience for his team.

"For us to not only compete but to be able to come away with a win gives us some good momentum going into a potentially tough week, especially with our game against Loyola," LaMott said.

The Vikings travel to Eureka today, Dec. 17, for their first conference game before hosting their first game of the season 3 p.m. on Saturday against Loyola, who is not in their district, 7B, but both are in the Western B Division.

They will also travel to St. Ignatius on Monday for an in-conference double-header with the girls teams.

One of the best parts of last weekend's games, according to LaMott, was that all 11 players he took to the tournament were able to get some time on the court, which included two junior varsity call-ups, junior Ryan Gembala and sophomore Connor Coleman, and nearly all of them scored in both games.

"It's really good for them to get a feel for the pace," LaMott said of being able to divide the playing time between his boys.

Another helpful part of the tournament for the Vikings was that they not only got to play two Class A teams, but they got to watch several others play in the games that were played before and after theirs.

"I think it showed the boys that they have what it takes to be able to be successful and hopefully that will transfer over to some success for us in the weeks to come," LaMott said.