Vikes edged out by Ronan, Whitefish in close games

The Bigfork varsity boys basketball team is still looking for their first win of the season, but if this week’s games are any indication, a win could be just around the corner for the Vikings. They narrowly lost to Ronan on Saturday 59-57 and held their own against conference favorite Whitefish losing by just 12 points in the 68-56 defeat that marked the start of conference play for Bigfork on Friday night.

Against Ronan, the Vikings came out swinging and scored twice as many points as the Chiefs to take a 12-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, with Brock Boll leading the way with six points.

In the second quarter, Bigfork head boys basketball coach Lyle Whiteman had to rely on his bench players as he opted to sit out Garrett Pewe and Scott Taylor who were headed toward foul trouble early in the game. The Vikings adjusted and kept the momentum going, outscoring  Ronan 18-15 in the second. Jake Milner was responsible for half of those points, which included a few trips to the free-throw line where he went three-for-five.

“Our bench did the best that they’ve done all season,” Whiteman said. “They kept us in the game in the second.”

The  momentum shifted after the half when Ronan more than doubled their points on the board putting up 23 in the third quarter, while Bigfork put up 16.

“In the third Ronan came out shooting really well,” Whiteman said. “We didn’t have too big of a lead going into it and they just made a run on us.”

The Vikings still had a two point lead over the Chiefs going into the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

Ronan had a one point lead with one minute left, and Bigfork missed a few key shots. Ronan made another to push their lead to three, until Bigfork finally answered with two points of their own,  but the clock ran out before Bigfork could take the lead back. Ronan was able to score 15 points to Bigfork’s 11 in the fourth.

“Overall we did better offensively,” Whiteman said. “We shot better and we played more confidently. We rebounded and boxed out better. Our biggest improvement was offensive selection; getting the ball to the right person. We had less turnovers, too, and that gave us more opportunities.”

Boll led Bigfork in points, with 16, and rebounds with 14, which was his second double-double of the week. He also had four assists and made three steals. Milner had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists. Taylor added eight points and eight rebounds. Pewe contributed six points, which included the two foul shots he made in the fourth quarter. He also grabbed eight rebounds, made three assists and three steals. Donny Tudahl was also perfect from the free-throw line, making all four of his shots, which added to his game total of six points. 

“We need to continue to get better and learn how to handle the lead,” Whiteman said. “We haven’t had the chance to do that yet this season.”

In Friday’s home game against Whitefish the boys didn’t have to worry about keeping the lead since they never had it, but they were able to impress the crowd and their coaches with their quality of play against their stronger opponent.

“They are a really good ball club,” Whiteman said of Whitefish. “I think defensively we did really well. Colt Idol was able to get his way with us a few times. He’s hard to stop. But I think our boys played really hard all the way to the end.”

Taylor helped Bigfork off to a strong start scoring nine of the team’s 14 first quarter points. Meanwhile, Whitefish’s star player, Colt Idol, put up 11 of his team’s 15 first quarter points.

“Our defense kept them from doing some things they wanted to do offensively,” Whiteman said of the Vikings’ ability to keep the game close in the first half.

In the second quarter Whitefish put up 16 points and Bigfork put up 10. 

Bigfork allowed the Bulldog’s lead to grow in the third scoring 15 points to Whitefish’s 20. Both teams put up 17 points in the fourth quarter .

“Just like in Ronan the other team came out a little hotter and shot a little better than we did in the second half,” Whiteman said.

Boll made a run in the second half, scoring six points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth. But Idol, who is a former Bigfork resident and long time friend of Boll’s, put up seven in the third and six in the fourth for a game total of 24 points.

“They (Boll and Idol) guarded each other most of the game,” Whiteman said. “They certainly played hard against each other and they both really wanted to win.”

Boll led the Vikings with 23 points and 13 rebounds. He was three-for-four from the free-throw line.

Taylor led the team in rebounding with 20 boards and also contributed 18 points. He made four of his six free-throw attempts. Pewe had eight assists, six steals and four points.

“Both Scott and Brock played very well,” Whiteman said of his players who accounted for 41 of the team’s 56 points against Whitefish. “Scott just came out on fire. He was doing really well on the boards. He got the ball and he did just the right thing with it. He just looked like he had figured it out. Brock was steady. He was scoring really well, especially right when we needed it. Whitefish is always a challenge and they really wanted to perform against them.”