Vikes solid in opening week

The Bigfork Vikings basketball team beat two of their three opponents over the past week, but they had victories in those that counted most – the conference games.

They beat Mission 73-24 Monday night and Eureka 73-44 last Thursday, but fell to Loyola 79-59 Saturday in their only home game of the season so far, making their record 2-0 in conference and 4-1 overall.

"We still have a long way to go, believe it or not, but this is a very encouraging start," said Paul LaMott, Bigfork High School head boys basketball coach.

Monday night Bigfork went out strong with 19 points in the first quarter and 22 in the second, while holding Mission to eight and nine, respectively.

"They played fantastic," LaMott said. "One of the biggest distinctions between this game and previous games this season was that they did not let up. All 12 players did not get complacent from start to finish. We jumped on them early and never looked back."

The Vikes added to their lead in the third quarter with 17 additional points before sealing the win in the fourth quarter with another 15 points.

"We had our best defensive effort this season," LaMott said. "We were fighting through the screens and we gave really good on-ball pressure. In defense, so much of it is willingness to do the hard things, which in turn are the right things. We saw a lot of our kids doing that and they were rewarded for that with this win."

Bigfork held the Bulldogs to just seven points in the second half.

"A lot of our offense was created by the defense," LaMott said. "We were able to take advantage of the defensive effort and get into our offense much better."

Junior Carter Sorensen led the way with 13 points.

"Carter shot with confidence as he always does," LaMott said. "He did the hard things on defense we needed him to do and we were really happy with that."

Senior Lael Richmond and junior Ben Sandry made solid contributions with 10 points apiece.

"Lael had 12 rebounds, including nine in the second half with limited playing time in the second half because we had such a good lead," LaMott said. "He played like the rebounder we have been hoping he would be for us."

Senior Keenan Evans and junior Evan Jordt added nine points each.

"Evan and Keenan had really solid games again," LaMott said.

The Vikings struggled, though, this weekend when they hosted Loyola.

"Initially I was disappointed with our level of play," LaMott said. "However, after reviewing the film, we found that we did some really good things out there, including putting together a good defensive effort. We just weren't able to execute some of the things we were trying to do."

Bigfork kept it close in the first quarter. Despite the Rams creating an early lead, Bigfork was able to catch up and tie their score twice before the quarter ended with a 24-20 score with Loyola ahead. The Vikings were outscored again in the second quarter and trailed 41-31 going into the second half. Loyola was able to score 21 points and 16 points in the remaining two quarters, respectively, while Bigfork had 17 points and 11 points.

"I thought that we competed to an extent," LaMott said. "It was a good litmus test for us. Loyola is at the level of play that we want to be at and that we are capable of being at. As coaches, we just haven't elevated them to that level of play yet."

Sorensen was again Bigfork's high-scorer with 12, including a 3-pointer in each of the first three quarters.

"It was nice to see Carter come in and shoot with confidence," LaMott said. "Where as some of the other players showed some jitters, he did what we told him to do out there and he had some success."

Evans had 10 points fueled by his six third-quarter points. Sandry contributed nine points.

"Night in and night out, we have to get a big game from Keenan and Evan has to do a solid job of being our floor general in order for us to be successful," LaMott said. "It was a good learning experience for those two and I expect good things from them the next time we meet a team of that caliber."

Last Thursday, the Vikes showed that they were the team of higher caliber when they rolled over Eureka starting with a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. Bigfork extended that gap greatly after a 25-point second quarter in which the Lions were able to score just 11 points. The Vikes went on to further their lead in the remaining two quarters by outdoing Eureka 17-9 in the third and 16-13 in the fourth.

"I thought we played very well," LaMott said. "We knew we were playing a team that we should be able to be successful against, but we still came out strong defensively and we did a better job of executing our offense. Overall, I was very pleased."

Evans led the Vikes with 15 points, 11 of which he put in during the first half, and he made all three of his free-throw shots. Sandry was right with him with 14 points, having put in seven points in each half. Sophomore Ian Lorang had eight points after picking up four from his free-throw shooting in five attempts.

"Ben is really starting to come into his own," LaMott said. "Keenan had a really good game, but we're really looking for him to be a 20 point per game scorer for us. Evan had a solid game at point guard both in his leadership and offensively."

The Vikings have a break from games for the holidays, but will continue to practice. Their next game is a home game Jan. 2 against Thompson Falls. It is a double-header in which the froshmore boys and the junior varsity and varsity boys and girls teams will all play. Games start at 1:30 p.m.

"The coaching staff has been looking forward to this break," LaMott said. "We've been playing a lot, which we like, but we have a lot of other things we want to teach them. Once we get into January, those opportunities are limited. The boys will have multiple days off for Christmas and New Year's, but around those days we will be having some intense practices and we will be much better for it."