Vikings split Class B games

Bigfork’s varsity boys basketball team picked up their second win of the year last week, taking out Mission on Saturday in a 59-45 non-conference victory, though they lost to Plains last Tuesday 51-43 in overtime.

The Vikings (2-11) were a little slow to start when they hosted Mission. They trailed the Bulldogs 8-7 at one point in the first quarter, but midway through the period picked up their intensity and outscored Mission 15-10 with Scott Taylor leading the charge with eight points.

“We put a lot of pressure on the boys to come out in the beginning and play hard and I think they were a little too rushed and we had to slow it down a bit,” said Bigfork head boys basketball coach Lyle Whiteman.

Bigfork never gave up the lead again in their first home win of the season. Whiteman used the lead as an opportunity to give all of his players equal playing time.

“I thought we could get the win if we played reasonably well so I gave everyone some playing time,” Whiteman said. They all did really well.”

The Vikes posted 16 points in the second quarter and held Mission to 11. They had a 31-21 lead at the start of the second half, but the Vikes still poured on the points — and the defense —  in the third quarter, tallying up 23 points and holding Mission to just eight. The fourth quarter wasn’t as impressive for Bigfork, as they scored just five points to the Bulldogs’ 16, but the Vikes left with the win anyway.

“Everyone played well defensively,” Whiteman said. “We tried some new defense. We used a half court trap, which I think they ran sometimes last year with coach Epperly, but it is fairly new for them. It took us out of the usual patterns we get into. We also got some fast breaks which give you a mental spark. Those two things helped us a lot.”

Brock Boll and Taylor led Bigfork in scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Taylor was also the leading rebounder with 10 boards and Boll grabbed six boards and made four assists. Christian Ker contributed nine points, in the form of three 3-pointers in the Vikings’ explosive third quarter. Garrett Pewe put up eight points, grabbed five rebounds, and made five assists and two steals. Jake Milner scored five points, all in the second quarter when he was five-of-six from the free-throw line.

Bigfork’s other Class B match-up last week did not end so sweetly for the Vikes, who lost to Plains for the second time this season.

Bigfork led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, but was outscored 17-9 in the second. The Vikes made a comeback in the third led by Donny Tudahl who scored eight of the team’s 15 points, while the Horsemen were held to seven. In the final seconds of the fourth quarter Plains went out of bounds and Bigfork got the ball, but a fumbled pass kept them from getting a shot off before the buzzer sounded and they had to settle for 11 points to Plains’ 12, which sent the game into overtime.

“We missed the opportunity for a win in that game,” Whiteman said. “It was the first time we have come back from behind to tie the game, so I was proud of them for that.”

In the extra three minute period Plains did all the scoring, putting up eight points for the win.

“We got a little impatient and we missed some opportunities to score in overtime, which was disappointing,” Whiteman said.

Boll led the Vikings with 14 points. Tudahl, who shot 100 percent from inside the arc, added 10.

“Tudahl is continually improving,” Whiteman said. “His shooting is coming along and he is playing well on both ends of the court.”

Keenan Evans contributed five points with a 3-pointer and a field goal in the fourth quarter. Taylor added four points, all in the first half, and led Bigfork in rebounding with eight. Pewe grabbed six rebounds and made 10 assists and four steals. Lael Richmond had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Although the Vikings have only won two games this season, neither of which were conference games, the boys are making the games much closer than their loses earlier this season.

“We are playing better and better,” Whiteman said. “We’re being more efficient offensively. We have more guys scoring each game. I keep hoping we’ll peak at just the right time. We have some of those teams coming to our court in the next few weeks so hopefully we can pick up some wins from those teams.”

The Bigfork boys hosted Libby on Tuesday, the results of which can be found on the Bigfork Eagle’s Web site.

The Vikings travel to Whitefish today, Feb. 12, and host Ronan tomorrow night.