Vikes take tough loss at home, win on the road

Bigfork’s Vikings played a hard fought game against top-ranked class A Columbia Falls only to lose 55-38 in the fourth quarter, but bounced back against class B Troy for a 51-44 win.

Ian Lorang and Chris Landon led the way against the Wildcats with 13 points each. Bigfork was up 21-20 at the end of a tight first half, but the Wildcats came back 11-7 in the third half.

Going into the fourth the game could have gone either way, but the Cats went on a shooting streak and put up 22 to Bigfork’s 10.

A few transition buckets and a technical foul called against Bigfork changed the game’s momentum.

“That’s Columbia Falls, they’re a good team like that,” Vikings Head Coach Kurt Paulson said. “In a minute they can put up five or eight points.”

But, Paulson said the boys played a tough game against the Columbia Falls and the Cats defended them well.

They held top-scorer Austin Jordt to just two points. And, if it wasn’t for the Cats’ Anthony Correa’s 21 points, it would have been a different game.

“He was really tough to guard,” Paulson said. “He was the difference in that game.”

On the road, Bigfork bounced back with a win against a tough opponent. The game opened with a tight first quarter that ended Troy up by one point, 13-12. The Vikes were down by eight early in the second quarter only to outscore their opponend by four and secure the advantage heading into the locker room.

The third quarter mirrored the first with a tight 13-12 Troy advantage. Bigfork fought through the last quarter to put up 13 baskets to Troy’s eight and secure the win.

“In the fourth quarter we kind of just wore them down,” Paulson said. “Connor’s defense, Jackson’s rebounding, Ian’s scoring and Cody’s key plays” were the game-makers.

Jackson Boese dominated the boards with 18 rebounds and put up 10 points. Connor Coleman played hard defense to keep Troy on their heels. Lorang put up 20 points to take the scoring lead and Cody Dopps made the plays that got the Vikes to the basket.

Two more tough battles are up ahead for the Vikes.

The boys host a home game against Florence-Carlton on Friday at 7 p.m. and hit the road to play Thompson Falls on Saturday.