Vikings come up short at divisionals

The Vikings' season of success came to a halt at last weekend's Western B Divisional Tournament in Pablo as Bigfork lost out during the semi-final round.

Bigfork played Loyola on Friday night for the opportunity to advance to the championship game, but after leading for the first three and a half quarters the Vikes wound up losing 63-60. Bigfork had to face Plains the following afternoon in a loser-out game, but unable to shake the previous day's loss, the Vikes were again narrowly defeated, 61-60, and ended their season.

"I don't know what team can honestly do that after getting so close to state," said senior Keenan Evans. "Honestly, emotionally and physically it was so hard to get pumped up for a game we shouldn't even be playing. Travis (Knoll) and Ian (Lorang) tried to get us pumped up, but we just weren't feeling it. It was hard because we knew we shouldn't be playing three or four more games to go to state. We should've just been getting ready to play one last game to decide who was first or second."

Bigfork's head boys basketball coach Paul La Mott said he could see that the boys came out flat and were struggling to deal with the situation.

"We weren't mentally where we needed to be," La Mott said. "But, you have to keep in mind that these are young men, we didn't get home until midnight the night before, we had just suffered a heart-wrenching loss, the boys had to go to school that day and try to shake it all off and go into that game with a clear head."

Bigfork had hoped to win that game and the consolation championship game, which would give them boys an opportunity to challenge the loser of the championship game. However, that game was between Loyola and Florence, and since the Vikes had already lost to Loyola, a challenge game would only be allowed for Bigfork if Florence lost the championship. Although the Vikes made that an impossible scenario with their loss to Plains, it wouldn't have worked in their favor anyway since Florence beat Loyola to win the tournament.

"It wasn't the way I wanted to go out for Keenan and Lael (Richmond)," La Mott said. "It can be viewed as a great disappointment, and it was, but I just don't want it to detract from the great accomplishment these boys realized this year."

Plains 61, Bigfork 60

From the beginning, it was obvious that Bigfork (18-5) was still hurting from the previous night. The Vikings still kept pace with the Horsemen, but Plains is one of the teams Bigfork beat handily twice during the regular season.

"No one really came out ready to play with the exception of Lael and Keenan because they didn't want their time to be over yet," sophomore guard Ian Lorang said. "We were really selfish. We should've come out and played for them and gotten them a few more games."

The teams were tied at 29 at the end of the half. Scoring was spread out among the Bigfork players, but for the Horsemen, it was their big man doing most of the work on the scoreboard. Trent Thompson scored eight points in the first quarter for Plains and another six in the second.

The game started to slip out of the Vikings' hands in the third quarter, when they allowed eight of Plains' players to score for a total of 17 points. Bigfork had 13 that quarter fueled by a big effort from Evans, who put in eight.

"Keenan had an incredible divisional tournament," La Mott said. "He was one of the main reasons we stayed in that tournament. If there was any consolation, it was that he had his biggest game of the season his last game of his high school career."

Bigfork didn't give much of a chase in the fourth quarter until the final minutes of the game. Then, multiple baskets from Carter Sorensen and Evans and 3-pointers from Knoll and Christian Ker got them nearly caught up. But, the Vikings fouled multiple times in those crucial moments, and the Horsemen made seven of their nine free-throw shots in the fourth quarter.

"In that last minute we realized that we should probably do something about the score," Evans said. "But it was too late really. We were really inconsistent. We just never took a commanding lead."

With the score at 61-57 and Plains players feeling confident they had the game in the bag, Bigfork got the ball one last time. From the 3-point arc, Ker took a shot, releasing the ball with just one second left on the clock. It went in, but it wasn't enough to keep the Vikings' season alive.

Evans wrapped up his four-year career on the Vikings varsity team with 18 points. He was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

"It was a very fun season," Evans said. "I will never forget it, especially those burners (a bleacher running drill). The season was very fun and I will miss it."

Ker contributed 12 points, all from 3-point territory, and grabbed five boards. Sorensen added 10 points and led the team in rebounding with six. Richmond grabbed five rebounds, made five blocks and three assists. Lorang and Knoll each had four assists and Knoll have five steals.

Loyola 63, Bigfork 60

With one starter still nursing a pulled groin, another diagnosed with bronchitis and a sophomore running the floor at point guard for only his third full game of the season, it wasn't an ideal night for Bigfork to take on Loyola, but the boys rolled with it until midway through the fourth quarter when they squandered their once 17-point lead.

"We started playing nervous, like we were behind instead of having the lead," Lorang said. "Our shots wouldn't fall and we just panicked. We just kind of fell apart as a team. The crowd got quiet and we hung our heads. We looked at the clock and saw our lead dropping and it was crushing us."

Lorang, who has been filling in at point guard since the district tournament following starting point guard Evan Jordt pulling his groin muscle, was having his best game of the season until the team started to dismantle. As the team's high scorer Lorang was targeted by Loyola's defense and even bringing the ball down the court became a struggle.

"Everybody got nervous and we didn't know what to do," Lorang said. "I didn't want to make a mistake to cost us the game because there were so many mistakes already made that cost us the lead."

The rest of the team failed to assist Lorang.

"He was getting double teamed and we just wouldn't go up and help him," Evans said. "I don't know why. I don't know what was going through our heads. I guess we all thought he'd be alright dribbling past two guys, but they just swarmed him because they knew he was our best player on the floor that game. We didn't do enough to help him out."

Evans was dealing with his own obstacles, having been treated for bronchitis by his doctor earlier that day. Although he had been unable to keep food down, he decided to play anyway.

"We all understood the magnitude of the game," Evans said. "Especially as a senior, I wanted to at least try to play. I thought it was important to show my teammates and La Mott that I really wanted to play even though I only went in for a couple minutes."

The Bigfork boys may have buckled under the pressure at the end of the game, and allowed the Rams to outscore them 24-12, but they played a strong first half holding a 34-20 lead at halftime and still led 48-37 at the end of the third.

"We just let up," Lorang said. "They are a really experienced team and they just knew what to do. They have a lot of confidence. They win a lot and they have the swagger. We need to have that swagger if we want to be the championship team."

Bigfork had the lead until the final five seconds of the game when Loyola tied it up at 60.

"We had situations to get through it," La Mott said of Loyola's pressure. "We had a game plan. We just couldn't implement it the way we needed to."

Then the Rams took advantage of a crucial Vikings mistake — a timeout called when none were left — resulting in a technical foul in the final five seconds of play. The Rams made both their technical shots and took the lead. Bigfork fouled as Loyola inbounded the ball in the following play. The Rams made that shot as well and took the win by three.

"I made a critical coaching error in not making it clear that we were out of timeouts," La Mott said. "That's just a very, very tough way to lose a basketball game. I take responsibility for poor management."

Lorang had a game-high 18 points, including a nine-point campaign in the third quarter. Ker contributed 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Sorensen and Richmond each added eight points and Knoll had seven. Ker led in rebounding with eight and he also had three blocks and two assists. Richmond grabbed seven rebounds and made four blocks. Knoll had six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Lorang had seven assists.

Bigfork 74, Valley Christian 61

The Bigfork Vikings earned their spot in the semifinals with a 74-61 victory over No. 3 seeded Valley Christian.

The Vikes (No. 1) stepped out and took control in the first half, outscoring their opponents 35-25. Both teams scored 17 in the third quarter and Bigfork edged out Valley Christian 22-19 in the final period to secure the win in the double-elimination tournament.

"We had a good game plan and we executed it well," La Mott said. "A few times I thought we were about to pull way ahead, but to Valley Christian's credit they stuck in it."

Bigfork had double-digit contributions from three players. Lorang led with 14, followed by Knoll with 13 and Evans with 12. The Vikes were hot from 3-point territory with a total of five treys — Knoll and Lorang had two apiece and sophomore Ronny Gallegos had one. Evans led the team in rebounding with 17 and he and Lorang each had three assists.