Vikes still looking for a win

The Vikings varsity basketball team is still looking for their first win as they begin conference play this week.

Last week they played a smaller school’s team, Plains, and a bigger school’s team, Glacier, but were denied a win in both games, leaving their record at 0-5.

On Saturday they hosted Class AA Glacier High School, which resulted in a 70-46 loss.

“The effort was good,” said Bigfork boys head basketball coach Lyle Whiteman. “I continue to be impressed by their effort. They played hard against a really good opponent and they didn’t give up.”

Glacier scored 15 in the first quarter, and Bigfork wasn’t too far behind with nine. But by half time the deficit had grown and the Vikes trailed Glacier 34-18.

“Offensively we are still struggling to make shots that we should be making,” Whiteman said. “There is always a discrepancy between your shooting percentage in practice and in games, but ours is a pretty big difference. Everyone is struggling with the exception of Brock Boll, who shot above 50 percent against Glacier. He has been keeping us in the games with his shooting.”

Bigfork outscored Glacier in the third 16-11, but it wasn’t enough. Glacier answered in the fourth with 25 points to Bigfork’s 12.

“Glacier was a little quicker and a little more athletic,” Whiteman said. “They are just a better team. It was a really physical game. Probably our most physical yet this season.”

Boll led the Vikings with 16 points, seven of which he put up in the first quarter, and he grabbed 13 rebounds and two steals. Jake Milner contributed 12 points, half of which he made from the free-throw line in his 11 attempts. Scott Taylor added eight points, six of which were made in the third quarter, and led the team in rebounds with 15. Garrett Pewe had five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Leo Daigle had four rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Bigfork’s 52-46 loss to Plains (8-0) last Thursday was a bigger disappointment, though, since they are a much smaller school than Bigfork.

“It was a game that I felt we should’ve won,” Whiteman said. “I felt we shot very poorly in the first half. I don’t know if it was anxiety or what it was, but we weren’t making our shots. We came back at the end, but it wasn’t enough to counter their efforts.”

The game against Plains was Bigfork’s first game in nearly a month, and was the team’s first home game of the season.

“I think they were pushing to get their first win,” Whiteman said. “They knew they had Glacier coming up and they wanted to go into that game having won one.”

The Vikings were down 28-19 at the half. They held Plains to 13 in the third quarter while putting up 12 points on their side of the board. Bigfork was behind by eight to 10 points for most of the game, until the end of the fourth quarter when they got within two points. But in the last few minutes of the game, when it looked like Bigfork had a chance to win the foul-line became the determining factor. Plains made their foul shots, but Bigfork didn’t. The Vikings were able to hold Plains to just 10 points in the fourth quarter and while outscoring them with 15 points of their own, nine of which were scored by Boll.

“We got real close, but we just couldn’t convert,” Whiteman said.

Boll had a game high 18 points, and led Bigfork in rebounds with 10. He was also nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making eight of his nine shots. Pewe put up 10 points, six of which were made in the third. He also had six assists, five steals and four rebounds. Taylor contributed six points and eight rebounds. Milner added six points as well.

“Their spirits are still up,” Whiteman said. “They’re still looking for a win. We just need to get that first one under our belt.”

Bigfork will play its first conference games of the season this week, since their game against Libby was canceled last month due to winter weather. The Vikings host Whitefish tomorrow, Jan. 16, and travel to Ronan on Saturday, Jan. 17.

“It will be nice to have our first conference games,” Whiteman said. “It looks like all the teams are just beating each other and there isn’t a dominant team yet. There have been quite a few upsets. Whitefish will probably be the favorite, but we’ll see. It will be good to start playing the teams in our conference and see how we match up.”

The game against Ronan has an added twist, since the team’s new head coach, Steve Woll, is a 1982 graduate of Bigfork High School who Whiteman coached as a JV and varsity basketball player. Whiteman said he is looking forward to seeing Woll and coaching against him. Woll has been coaching around the state in smaller schools prior to moving up to the Class A conference this year.