Vikes struggle at state tournament

The Bigfork boys basketball team ended another stellar season with a tough state tournament in Great Falls last weekend.

The Vikings ended the season Saturday with an 83-75 loss to Rocky Boy in loser-out action at the Class B state tournament at Four Seasons Arena. The Vikings went 22-4 this season.

Bigfork, the 2014 state champions, trailed 46-32 at the half against Rocky Boy, who went on to place third in the state tournament.

Isaac Martel led a balanced Bigfork attack with 19 points. Jonathan Landon tallied 17. Adam Jordt and Josh Sandry both had 13. Those four players were also named first team All-Conference players. Sandry was also named All-State.

Bigfork found themselves in the consolation bracket after losing in their semifinal game to Choteau, the eventual 2015 champions.

Bigfork fell 62-53 to a hot-shooting Choteau team in the second half of their semifinal game on Friday.

Choteau, which had shot two for 15 from 3-point range in the first half, made four of eight in the third quarter to turn a two-point halftime lead into a 49-39 lead with a minute left in the frame.

Bigfork edged closer to Choteau multiple times in the fourth quarter but never got closer than six points, struggling with offensive fouls and poor free-throw shooting. Of the Vikings’ 18 personal fouls, six came on charges in the lane, as a crafty Choteau defense took advantage of Bigfork’s aggressiveness. Each charge came at a time the Vikings seemed to be building a comeback. Bigfork shot 50 percent from the free-throw line in the game, including two for six as it fell behind in the third quarter.

“We just charged too much,” Bigfork coach Sam Tudor said.

“It’s terrible. We took two weeks just to talk about that. The scouting report says Bigfork charges a lot. There were some times where there wasn’t a lot of contact but there was enough for a charge. It’s just too bad.”

Choteau took control midway through the first quarter, attacking the paint to build a nine-point lead with less than a minute to play and an 18-10 lead entering the second.

Bigfork went on an 11-4 run to start the second, and cut its deficit to 22-21 behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Joseph Potkonjak and Ryder Trent. Even as Choteau stretched the lead out to seven points with some timely 3s of its own, the Vikings kept their foot on the gas, closing the frame on a 7-2 run to enter halftime down just 31-29.

It was the deep shot, with three 3s from Bulldogs junior guard Derrek Durocher in the third quarter, that changed the game.

While Choteau built its lead back to 10 points, Bigfork went four for 11 from the field and one for four from the free-throw line. The Vikings were just one for seven from the 3-point line in the second half.

“Choteau is just a good team,” Tudor said. “They came down, got into their rhythm. We just couldn’t get that lead.”

Martel had 12 points and Ryder Trent 10 to lead Bigfork. Sandry had nine points and nine rebounds.

Dylan Pannabecker scored 20 points and had nine rebounds to lead Choteau.

Bigfork had another tough matchup at the start of the tournament on Thursday to get into the semifinal game. 

Bigfork pulled out a tough 53-50 first-round victory over a determined Columbus squad. Bigfork beat Columbus in the 2014 championship game.

Sandry, who led Bigfork in scoring with 13 points, hit the front end of the bonus down the stretch to give Bigfork the three-point edge. That was also the last point scored in the contest.

Columbus had two chances after that, missing the front end of the bonus with 15 seconds to play and then Tanner Osborne was off the mark with a game-tying 3-point field goal just before the final buzzer.

Sandry rebounded Osborne’s miss to end the game.

Martel added 11 points for Bigfork.

Kiefer McKay scored 19 points for Columbus. Tanner Osborne added 12 and Trey Ostrum 11.

(Joseph Terry from the Daily Inter Lake contributed to this report.)

Bigfork 15 17 26 17 — 75

Rocky Boy 17 29 19 18 — 83

Bigfork — Matt Farrier 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Jordt 4-14 4-9 13, Joseph Fotkonjak 2-8 0-0 6, Isaac Martel 7-16 3-6 19, Tyler Piazzola 2-4 0-1 4, Jonathan Landon 5-15 6-7 17, Josh Sandry 3-14 6-13 13, Ryder Trent 1-6 0-0 3, Grant Ozegovich 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-77 19-36 75.

Rocky Boy — Bubby Gopher 4-7 6-6 17, Isiah Murie 1-3 2-2 5, Skylar Parisian 3-9 5-8 12, Jr. Day Child 6-9 6-8 21, Shadow Laforge 0-2 0-0 0, Lance Parker 0-1 0-1 0, Lonnie Plain Bull Jr. 8-13 0-0 19, Kordall Small 0-0 0-0 0, Colen Shane 1-1 0-0 2, Sage Gopher 0-0 1-2 1, Cecil Lafromboise 2-6 2-4 6. Totals: 25-51 22-31 83.

3-point goals — Bigfork 8-26 (Jordt 1-5, Potkonjak 2-5, Martel 2-7, Landon 1-4, Sandry 1-1, Trent 1-4), RB 11-20 (B. Gopher 3-5, Murie 1-2, Parisian 1-4, DayChild 3-3, Laforge 0-2, Plain Bull 3-4). Fouled out — Jordt, Piazzola, Sandry, Parker, Lafromboise. Rebounds — Bigfork 45 (Sandry 13, Team 10), RB 35 (Team 7, DayChild 6). Assists — Bigfork 9 (Jordt 4), RB 13 (Parisian 5). Total fouls — Bigfork 23. RB 23. Technical fouls — Martel, Lafromboise.

Bigfork 10 19 11 13 — 53

Choteau 18 13 18 13 — 62

BIGFORK - Adam Jordt 3-4 0-0 7, Joseph Potkonjak 2-3 0-1 6, Isaac Martel 5-9 2-4 12, Tyler Piazzola 0-1 1-2 1, Jonathan Landon 3-6 3-5 9, Josh Sandry 3-7 4-8 10, Ryder Trent 2-7 2-4 8. Totals: 18-37 12-24 53.

CHOTEAU - Liam Breen 5-10 0-0 11, Collin Achenbach 3-7 3-4 9, Derrek Durocher 5-12 0-0 14, Dylan Pannabecker 8-14 3-4 20, Logan Howard 4-4 0-0 8. Totals: 25-53 6-8 62.

3-point goals - Bigfork 5-12 (Trent 2, Potkonjak 2, Jordt), Choteau 6-26 (Durocher 4, Pannabecker, Breen). Rebounds - Bigfork 27 (Landon 9), Choteau 28 (Pannabecker 9). Assists - Bigfork 11 (Martel 5), Choteau 19 (Achenbach 9). Steals - Bigfork 8 (Martel 4), Choteau 7 (Achenbach 3). Total fouls - Bigfork 18, Choteau 20. Fouled out - Bigfork, Landon.

Bigfork 11 13 16 13 — 53

Columbus 13 9 16 12 — 50

BIGFORK – Adam Jordt 3 1-2 7, Joseph Potkonjak 1 0-1 2, Isaac Martel 5 0-0 11, Tyler Piazzola 3 1-2 7, Jonathan Landon 2 2-2 8, Josh Sandry 5 3-8 13, Ryder Trent 2 0-1 5. Totals 21 7-16 53.

Columbus – Kade Osborne 1 2-5 4, Kiefer McKay 9 0-0 19, Trey Ostrum 4 2-2 11, Tanner Osborne 5 2-3 12, Ryland Stampel 0 2-2 2, Brady Exner 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 8-12 50.

3-point goals – Bigfork 4-13 (Landon 2-3), Columbus 2-12 (McKay 1-1, Ostrum 1-5). Total Fouls – Bigfork 10, Columbus 18. Fouled out – none. Total rebounds – Bigfork 30 (Landon 10), Columbus 27 (Stampel 9, T. Osborne 9).