Vikes conquer in Plains, Troy

The Bigfork Vikings cruised through another week of District 7B play untouched as they took out Plains 69-48 on Thursday and Troy 59-34 on Saturday both on the road.

The first quarter of the Vikes game in Troy was tight. Bigfork (7-1, 5-0) scored 12 points and the Trojans put up nine.

"We actually didn't come out that flat," said Paul LaMott, Bigfork High School head boys basketball coach. "You have to give Troy credit. They came out really scrappy. We didn't execute as well as I would've liked, but we stayed scrappy and I was very pleased with the boys."

Bigfork picked up their defense in the second quarter, though, and held their opponents to just three points while the Vikes added another 12 to their total.

The third quarter was another close one, with Bigfork scoring 13 and Troy scoring 12.

The Vikes' ups and downs may have been partly due to their changes on defense.

"We tried a couple of different things," LaMott said. "We went from man-to-man to a press. Our press still needs some work. We weren't able to use it as much as I would've liked to."

The Vikes sealed the win in the fourth quarter, though, as they scored twice as many points as Troy, 22-11.

"It came down to physical fitness," LaMott said. "We were able to wear them down and take advantage. We created some opportunities to make some baskets because they were getting tired and let down on defense. We made some shots and we were able to get the win."

Senior Keenan Evans led the Vikes with 12 points. He put in a 3-pointer and was 5-for-8 from the free-throw line.

"Keenan takes very good shots," LaMott said. "He had a really solid game for us. We are still waiting for him to break through, but we think that's just around the corner."

Senior Lael Richmond and junior Christian Ker contributed 10 points apiece. Ker, who is recovering from a November knee surgery, had two 3-pointers.

"Christian's rehab is coming along nicely," LaMott said. "He's been able to play for longer periods, his presence on the both ends of the court has been improving and we have been benefiting a great deal from all of the points he's been contributing."

Having Ker able to put in more minutes on the floor is important for the Vikes, who are without junior starter Ben Sandry. Sandry is out for an undetermined amount of time due to a school-related disciplinary action.

Point guards Ian Lorang and Evan Jordt had six points and five points, respectively.

"Both Evan and Ian did a good job of keeping the team's on-court composure," LaMott said.

On Thursday, it was steady play and a big second quarter that led the Vikes to a victory over Plains.

"The boys put out a phenomenal effort against Plains," LaMott said.

After the first quarter Bigfork led 15-11, but the Vikes extended that lead by doubling up on the Horsemen and outscoring them 24-12 in the second period.

"We got some very productive scoring from Carter, Christian and Travis," LaMott said. "Travis got a lot of easy buckets from his ability to handle the ball and from his athleticism that allowed him to breakaway from their defenders. He did a great job on both ends of the court."

Plains fought back in the third and outscored Bigfork 14-13.

"They came at us with a very effective press for awhile and were able to get some easy points off of us," LaMott said. "We weren't quite up to the task, but we were able to get it figure out and shut them down."

The Vikes battled back in the fourth quarter, though, and came out on top by putting up 17 points to Plains' 11.

"We had big games from many players and as a team, as a whole, we had very limited let-down the entire game," LaMott said.

Knoll had his biggest game of the season, leading the Vikes with 18 points. Ker put up 16, Carter Sorensen contributed 13 and Evans had 12.

"Christian had about 15 rebounds," La Mott said. "He was a monster on the boards. Lael and Keenan crashed the boards really well too."

Trent Thompson, of Plains, was the high scorer of the game. With 21 points, he was responsible for nearly half of his team's scoring.

The Vikings host non-conference games with Ronan tonight, Jan. 14, and Whitefish tomorrow night. Those results will be in next week's Eagle.

On Tuesday, the Bigfork boys travel to Libby.

Look for recaps of all three games on the Eagle's Web site this week.