Vikes edged out in conference play

The Bigfork Vikings (2-14, 0-8) varsity basketball team went 0-3 last week as they were unable to defeat Libby, Whitefish or Ronan in conference match-ups.

Saturday night’s home game against Ronan, which the Chiefs won 71-61, was the closest the Bigfork varsity boys came to a win all week. But a poor start and a terrible shooting percentage from the free-throw line kept them from capturing their first conference win.

“This was the first time this year that I thought the kids weren’t mentally and emotionally ready to play,” said Bigfork head boys basketball coach Lyle Whiteman. “I don’t know what was going on with us, but Ronan came out really ready to play.”

Bigfork put up just four points in the first quarter while Ronan scored 16.

“We missed a lot of shots we should’ve made,” Whiteman said. “We couldn’t get anything in.”

The Vikes turned things around in the second quarter and outscored the Chiefs 14-13.

Midway through the third quarter Whiteman put in three of his junior varsity players to mix things up a bit.

“I just felt we needed to try something different to try to give us a spark,” Whiteman said. “We weren’t making too much progress and wanted to find some answers to why we weren’t shooting so well.”

The young boys did not disappoint as they kept pace with the Chiefs and both teams scored 19 points in the third quarter. Christian Ker in particular gave the Vikes a spark as he sunk a pair of 3-pointers that quarter, including a buzzer beater from half court. Bigfork scored one more point than Ronan in the fourth, with 24, but one more wasn’t enough to dig them out of the hole from the first quarter.

Senior post Scott Taylor provided the silver lining for Bigfork, though, as he grabbed 27 rebounds to set a new record for the school. Matt Emslie previously held the record with 21 in the 1996-1997 season. Taylor also contributed 13 points.

Brock Boll had a game high 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Garrett Pewe added 15 points, 13 of which he put up in the second half, including two 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Pewe was the only Viking with any consistency from the free-throw line, as he made three of his four shots. The team shot a dismal 30 percent from the line after 37 free-throws.

“When you go to the line that many times it’s an indicator of how rough of a game it was,” Whiteman said. “There were a lot of fouls called. It gave us a lot of opportunities, but we just didn’t capitalize on them. Free-throw shooting is such a mental thing. I don’t know what was going on with them.”

The Vikings lost Thursday night on the road in Whitefish 63-38.

Bigfork’s strong defense allowed them to take a 11-7 lead after the first quarter. However, Whitefish adjusted and took over from there, putting up 17 points in the second quarter and holding Bigfork to just six.

“I thought we’d do better,” Whiteman said. “We tried some new things defensively and that helped us in the beginning. We shot well and had a good first quarter, but we let it get away from us in the second half.”

Whitefish grabbed their tenth straight win that night by dominating the second half as well, outscoring the Vikings 19-9 in the third and 20-12 in the fourth. Taylor scored all but two of Bigfork’s fourth quarter points and ultimately put up a game-high 18 points, even beating out Whitefish’s Northwest A Conference leading scorer, Colt Idol, who put up 16. Taylor also led Bigfork in rebounding with 12 boards and made two assists and two steals. He was also four-for-six from the free-throw line and was the only Vikings player to make a foul shot in Whitefish.

“For the most part the effort was there, but Whitefish just warmed up and warmed up and played better and better,” Whiteman said.

Boll had eight points and Pewe added four points and six assists. Leo Daigle grabbed six rebounds and two steals.

Last Tuesday night Bigfork finally got to host Libby, a game that had to be rescheduled twice due to bad weather. However, the extra preparation wasn’t enough help for the Vikings, who took a 46-39 loss.

The Bigfork boys, who are last in the Northwest A Conference, knew that playing first ranked Libby would be a challenge. Although they played a great game of catch-up, the Vikings ultimately let the win slip through their fingers in the final period.

Down by seven at the start of the second half, Bigfork came out swinging and even tied the game during the third quarter. Boll led the way with 11 of the team’s 18 third quarter points, meanwhile Libby put up 16.

“It was a great third quarter,” Whiteman said. “Probably our best this season. We’ve struggled a lot in that quarter, so I was pleased they did so well, but they just couldn’t keep it up in the fourth.”

Bigfork let their momentum unravel in the fourth quarter. They missed several field goals, five of their seven free throws and were only able to score six points. Defensively they held Libby to eight in the final period.

Boll had a game high 19 points and Jake Milner contributed six for Bigfork. Taylor led the Vikes in rebounding with 16 boards and added five points and three assists. Boll grabbed six boards. Pewe had five assists and two steals.

The Vikings hosted Polson on Tuesday, the results of which can be found on the Bigfork Eagle’s Web site, http://www.bigforkeagle.com. Tonight, Feb. 19, they celebrate Senior Night as they host Columbia Falls for their final regular season game.