Vikes secure top spot in District 7B

Victories in two tight games earned the Vikings regular season District 7B Champion bragging rights last week.

The Bigfork boys beat Plains on Thursday 72-57 and then took down Troy 57-42 Saturday.

It was the Vikes win over Plains, though, that sealed the first-place finish in the conference and the No. 1 seed at the upcoming district tournament.

"I was very proud of the boys," said Paul LaMott, Bigfork High School head boys basketball coach.

It wasn't an easy road to the victory, however. Plains made the Vikes work for the title, keeping pace with them through the first three quarters in which the teams repeatedly swapped the lead.

"It was a good game. We knew they were going to come out tough," LaMott said.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Bigfork led 49-48, but a big offensive push by the Vikes earned them 23 points in the final period. Ian Lorang accounted for seven of those points and Carter Sorensen was responsible for six.

"We played very well in the fourth quarter," LaMott said. "We were able to come from a tight game and actually extend our lead."

Bigfork had a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter as well and allowed only one player from Plains to score that period, Trent Thompson, who scored nine of his game-high 28 points.

"We were able to overcome his very big game with a team effort," LaMott said.

The Vikes were outscored in the first and third quarters 18-17 and 12-11, respectively, but were able to win the second quarter 21-18 which gave them a 38-36 lead at the half.

"At that point in time it could've gone one of two ways," LaMott said. "Fortunately, the boys were able to clamp down on defense and take care of the ball a little better on offense."

Sorensen and Christian Ker led the Vikes with 13 points apiece. Sorensen's contribution included two 3-pointers, a layup and dead-on free-throw shooting for a perfect 5-for-5 from the line. Travis Knoll, who helped the team get their momentum going in the first quarter with six points, scored a total of 11 points. Lorang had a total of nine points against the Horsemen and was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the decisive fourth period. Keenan Evans scored nine as well. Evan Jordt had eight points, six of which he scored in the second half.

"We had a good game from Ian, who is starting to come on at this point in the season," LaMott said. "We felt that it was Keenan's best game of the year by far. Lael led us in rebounds like he does so often. We got a solid game from all of our players. Collectively, we played very well as a team."

The Vikes made 21 steals, and blocked eight of Plains' shots. Richmond and Jordt each accounted for four of those steals. Sorensen, Lorang and Knoll completed three steals apiece. Richmond had five blocks and led the team in rebounding with 10 boards in addition to giving three assists. Ker grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks. Evans snagged eight boards. Jordt led in assists with four and Lorang and Knoll each had three.

"I think that although it may not be recognized to the extent that I think it should be, that being able to say that we are the regular season champions is a big accomplishment," LaMott said. "I think the boys should take a lot of pride in what they've done."

For their final conference matchup, Bigfork hosted Troy in a game that should've gone smoother for the Vikes than it did.

"It was a bit of a challenge for us," LaMott said. "We as a coaching staff had some concerns that the boys might go into the game a little low having been on such a high two days prior from the Plains game."

The Vikes trailed by two points at the end of the first quarter, but were able to make up some ground in the second quarter on defense by allowing the Trojans to score just seven points rather than the 12 they put in during the first period.

Sophomore Cody Dopps was a part of that strong second-quarter effort when he came off the bench and immediately scored for the Vikes and tied the game up at 19 points .

"Cody Dopps had to play in the second quarter for us due to Carter's lingering (knee) injury," LaMott said. "He did a fantastic job and gave us just shy of six very strong minutes that we really needed at that point in the game."

As in the previous game, Bigfork started to turn things around in the third quarter and outscored Troy 16-13. Then the Vikes were able to get far enough ahead in the fourth quarter that some of the junior varsity boys got some varsity playing time. They were able to keep the lead with 21 points to the Trojans' 10 in the final period.

"We're happy enough with their effort, but we very likely may meet Troy in the district tournament, so we're going to have to be much better in that environment in order to be successful," LaMott said.

Jordt, who only played the first three quarters, led the Vikes with 12 points, having scored four in each quarter. Jordt, the Vikes' point-guard, also grabbed five boards and turned the ball over just once though the team had a total of 18 turnovers that game. Lorang scored all 11 of his points in the second half and Ker, who also scored 11, spaced his out throughout the game. Dillon Fraley contributed eight points and had the best average from the free-throw line for Bigfork having made two of his three shots. Knoll had six steals and three assists. Richmond had five assists, four steals and five rebounds. Evans led Bigfork in rebounding with eight boards and Ker grabbed six.

"We had a good second half from Ian and solid contributions from Christian and Travis," LaMott said. "Keenan led us on the boards. He struggled from the field, but he gave us some good opportunities. Dillon Fraley did well for us too."

The Bigfork boys are looking like a well-rounded team just in time for post-season play. Bigfork will enter into the District 7B Tournament on Feb. 18-20 in Libby. The Vikes earned a bye for the first round so they will play their first game of the tournament at 3 p.m. Friday. If they win, they will go straight into the championship game Saturday. If not, they will have to play multiple games in the double-elimination tournament in the hopes of securing one of the four tickets to the Western B Divisional Tournament in Pablo at the Salish Kootenai College on Feb. 24-27.

The Vikes are on the road all this week. They play in Whitefish on Feb. 12, and in Ronan on Saturday.