Vikes battle to stay undefeated

As the Vikings varsity basketball team enters into their final week of conference play, they remain undefeated in District 7B after beating Thompson Falls, 72-64, and St. Ignatius, 66-23, each for the second time this season.

Bigfork (8-0, 13-1), ranked fourth in Class B, had an easy win over St. Ignatius at home, but in Thompson Falls they met not only a tougher opponent but a more challenging atmosphere as well.

"This was a dogfight from the beginning," said Paul LaMott, Bigfork High School head boys basketball coach.

The Vikes were outscored 18-16 in the first quarter, but came back in the second to outscore the Bluehawks 17-9.

"I felt that at that point in time that we might have an opportunity to win going away, but I knew that we had been played very tough by Thompson Falls," LaMott said. "They are a matchup problem for us because they have two players standing 6-7 and 6-6, respectively, in Mike Wood and Chalis Wilson. They are tough opponents. They each scored 16 points."

Thompson Falls came out ahead in the third quarter, 21-17, and narrowed Bigfork's lead to just two points.

"We simply did not box out well enough against a team that had a size advantage against us and that has been a little bit of an Achilles' heal for us," LaMott said. "We are going to continue to talk about it constantly and work on it even more often, because as we continue through this season we have to have the ability to box out tough against bigger teams."

The Vikes were able to hold the Bluehawks to 16 points in the final period, while putting up 22 points and taking the win.

"As the game got closer, I could see it in the eyes of our players that they were looking for the opportunities to succeed, and I could see that the other team was beginning to worry about making mistakes as opposed to focusing on what they needed to do to be successful," LaMott said. "I think that's one thing that has changed in the mentality of basketball here in Bigfork as of late, and I was very proud to just be a bystander at that point in time."

From the moment the Vikes stepped on the court they faced a hostile environment, according to LaMott. That environment may have led to Bigfork receiving two nearly back-to-back technical fouls. The first was on coach LaMott for saying "Oh come on" while jumping in the air in reactions to a referees' call.

"We take great pride in showing sportsmanship on the court," LaMott said. "The referee felt that (what I did) warranted a technical and I had to accept it."

The second was given to Travis Knoll for throwing his arms in the air in response to being given a foul. LaMott has a rule that if one of his players receives a technical foul for misbehaving on the court then they will be benched the next game. However, he made an exception in this case.

"I felt adamantly that the technical was so out of line that we have decided to give Travis a 100-percent pass," LaMott said.

The coach said he was proud of his team for not allowing these adversities to disrupt their play.

"We were able to keep our composure and walk away with the win in a very rough environment physically, mentally and emotionally."

Free-throw shooting was a big factor for the Bigfork boys in Thompson Falls as they made 27 of their 34 shots from the stripe.

Ian Lorang, a sophomore, was 10-for-13 from the free-throw line overall and 5-for-6 in the final period. He also put in three buckets from the field and had two assists and two steals.

Knoll was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line for the night, 5-for-6 in the fourth quarter. He had a total of 18 points, which also included a pair of 3-pointers. Knoll grabbed eight rebounds and had three steals, two assists and two blocks.The Vikes were without junior starter Carter Sorensen all last week as he dealt with a knee injury.

Christian Ker led all scorers with 20 points, including three 3-pointers. Ker was 3-for-4 from the foul line. He had six boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Lael Richmond scored nine points, five of which came from his six attempts from the free-throw line. Richmond was the team's leading rebounder with 12. The Vikes were able to use Friday's less difficult matchup with St. Ignatius to spread around some playing time among the boys.

"We outscored them 20-4 in the first quarter and we were off and running from that point on," LaMott said.

Two of those four Bulldog points were made before the game even started. Bigfork was given a technical foul, which was later revoked, and the Bulldogs didn't score again until the final 20 seconds of the first period.

The Vikes were originally given the technical foul for not having their score book turned in early enough. The rules state that the book must be handed to the official scorekeeper 10 minutes prior to the game. However, St. Ignatius' coach argued that the rule stated the book had to be turned in 10 minutes prior to warmups. The referees agreed with him and gave the Bulldogs two shots. However, after the game the referees told LaMott that they were mistaken. LaMott said he would have filed a complaint if it had effected the outcome of the game.

Bigfork added 24 points to their total in the second quarter, while holding the Bulldogs to just nine. The Vikes dominated again in the third, scoring more than three times as many points as St. Ignatius, 18 to their four.

Bigfork played their "all-reserve unit" in the fourth quarter and was outscored 6-4 with a running clock due to the mercy rule.

"It was just nice for some of them to get some varsity experience," LaMott said "Some of them did score some points and were able to run some of our offensive and defensive sets successfully."

Evan Jordt had a game-high 16 points, 12 of which he scored in the first half and all of which he scored from the field having not been sent to the free-throw line all three quarters that he played. Jordt, who had six assists and three steals, was also one of the leading rebounders for the Vikes with eight boards. He shared that honor with Keenan Evans, who also grabbed eight rebounds. Evans contributed 10 points, nine went in during the first half including a 3-pointer.

Ker scored 14 points in the form of four 3-pointers and one field goal. Ker, who also didn't shoot any free throws, put in all but three of his points in the first half. He made seven steals against the Bulldogs and helped his team with five assists and five rebounds. Knoll scored 11 points, eight of which were credited in the first half. He was also responsible for six rebounds and three assists. Richmond grabbed seven rebounds and made two blocks, but scored just three points.

"Overall, it was a team effort," LaMott said. "It was exactly the kind of game that we want to play against an opponent that we should be able to handle."

One area that the Bigfork boys didn't shine in, though, was free-throw shooting. As a team they made five of the 15 they attempted.

The Vikes host Plains tonight, Feb. 4, and Troy on Saturday for Senior Night, which is a double-header with the Vals.

"Plains is going to be a really big game for us," LaMott said. "If we beat them, then we secure first place in the district. If we don't, then we have to beat Troy on Saturday, and then we will share first place with Plains. Plains will be a tough game. We know that, but we also know we have the ability to succeed against them."