Vikings cap perfect season with state title
BOZEMAN — It wasn’t easy, but they’re perfect.
The Bigfork boys outlasted Columbus in a slugfest, beating the Cougars 71-62 to win the Class B state boys basketball championship Saturday night and complete an undefeated season.
The Vikings were held in a tight game until the fourth quarter, unable to get out in transition or impose their strengths on a scrappy Columbus team. It wasn’t until a technical foul on the Columbus bench with five minutes to play that Bigfork was able to get a significant lead and ride out the victory.
“We hang our hat on getting some steals and some breakaways, we didn’t,” Bigfork coach Josh Downey. “It seems like they had us scouted out pretty well.
“Luckily we got some breakaway layups and some things went our way. The technical kind of turned things a little bit. It got us to the line, got us the ball back and I think we scored on that possession. Then a steal. It just kind of worked out in our favor, that small run.”
Senior post Christian Evans had hit a layup with a foul and during the ensuing free throw the Columbus coach drew the technical. After the foul he hit two free throws and got the Vikings offense going.
The foul keyed a 10-2 run that gave Bigfork (26-0) a 59-51 lead with 3:49 to play. Even then, the Cougars were able to cut the lead to 64-60 with 1:24 remaining.
Junior forward Ryder Trent pulled in rebounds on three straight possessions and cooly hit four free throws to push the Bigfork lead back to 69-60 with less than a minute left. They were just a few of the big shots he hit in the game, including a 3-pointer at the end of the half to send Bigfork into the break with a 34-27 lead.
“He sat on the bench for awhile,” Downey said. “Cameron Nissen fouled out, he came in. Made a couple of huge free throws and had some big 3s early on that really sparked us. Especially the one going into half.”
“I like the pressure,” Trent said. “Just icing ... it was awesome.”
The win is the first basketball championship for Bigfork in school history.
“It’s relieving,” Evans said after the victory. “It’s amazing. Words can’t really describe it.”
Columbus hung with the Vikings for most of the game, playing a physical brand of defense that kept Bigfork from pulling away. The Cougars took a lead in the third quarter, going on an 11-1 run to get on top 38-36 midway through the period.
Josh Sandry answered with a steal to start the break, getting a foul and a free throw, then hitting a jumper from 15 feet out to give the Vikings a three-point lead.
Josh Sandry scored 23 points, including 10 in the first half, to lead the Vikings. Evans had 17 and Trent had 13.
Tanner Osbourne had 14 points to lead Columbus.
Championship
Bigfork 71, Columbus 62
Columbus 15 12 15 20 — 62
Bigfork 15 19 11 26 — 71
Columbus — Kade Osborne 3-8 2-2 10, Kiefer McKay 4-5 5-6 13, Trey Ostrum 4-9 2-3 11, Peyton Gross 2-5 0-1 4, Philip Holten 4-9 2-2 10, Braden Majerison 0-1 0-0 0, Tanner Osborne 5-13 1-2 14, Brady Exner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-50 12-16 62.
Bigfork — Isaac Martel 2-6 2-4 7, Jon Landon 2-4 1-2 7, Josh Sandry 9-15 3-3 23, Ryder Trent 2-3 7-9 13, Cameron Nissen 2-3 0-0 4, Chris Evans 4-15 9-12 17. Totals: 21-46 22-30 71.
Total fouls — COL 22, BF 17. Fouled out — McKay, Nissen. Technical foul — COL bench. 3-point goals — COL 6-20 (K. Osborne 2, Ostrum, T. Osborne 3), BF 7-13 (Martel, Landon 2, Sandry 2, Trent 2). Rebounds — COL 26 (Holten 6, T. Osborne 6), BF 33 (Nissen 8). Assists — COL 16 (Holten 5), BF 9 (Landon 4). Turnovers — COL 7, BF 8. Blocked shots — COL 0, BF 3 (Evans 3). Steals — COL 4 (Ostrum 2), BF 4 (Martel 2).