Bigfork wins tight game against Florence
BIGFORK — In a tough, physical game against one of the top basketball teams in the state, the No. 6 Bigfork boys led wire-to-wire, beating No. 5 Florence-Carlton, 49-44 Friday night.
While the Vikings led throughout, Florence made it interesting late with its unrelenting pressure defense.
Trailing 42-27 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter, the Falcons went on a 12-0 run to turn what was becoming a blowout into a tight game. Bigfork scored just two points in five minutes at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter, that basket coming on an accidental tip-in by the Florence defense.
With his team up just 44-41, Bigfork senior Chris Landon stepped to the free-throw line with 3:36 to play. The Vikings had missed their previous four free throws, and as his first attempt reached the rim it looked as if they would miss a fifth. The shot bounced around the basket, touching every corner before finally falling in, to the relief of the home crowd.
“I was a little nervous when I got up there,” Landon said. “The game was on the line, you gotta make your free throws.”
Having seen the first go in, his next attempt hit nothing but net. Two minutes later he hit 1 of 2 free throws to ice the game for the Vikings.
“We’re all happy,” Landon said. “Everyone knew this was going to be a big game going into it. We just had to play our hearts out.”
Bigfork was carried by its defense and rebounding through the first three quarters, using its length and speed to frustrate the Falcons. Playing in the passing lanes, the Vikings held Florence to just three field goals in the second quarter and two in the third.
“We worked on our defense this week, we thought we had to stop them (to win),” Bigfork coach Kurt Paulson said.
“It was probably an ugly game. Lots of fouls, really physical. They’re huge, we’re huge. My kids lift weights, their kids lift weights. This was a heavyweight fight. We’re just lucky to weather the storm.”
Against a defense that was playing equally tough, Bigfork was able to take advantage of the Falcons aggressiveness, finding players on cuts inside and getting to the free-throw line often.
Junior forward Christian Evans was able to get inside of the long defense of the Falcons to lead Bigfork (6-3 overall, 3-0) with 13 points. Seth Roessman, who was 8 for 10 at the line, scored 10 points.
Ryne Baerlocher had a game-high 14 points for Florence (9-1).
“We’ve been in that same position this year where we haven’t weathered the storm and handled their pressure and combated their runs,” Paulson said. “Tonight we did it. I’m really happy because that means our kids are growing and learning and getting better.
“We desperately needed to win a close one to prove to ourselves that we can do that. That was a big step in the right direction for our team tonight by pulling that out.”
Bigfork plays at Thompson Falls (4-5, 2-1) tonight.
Florence 9 12 8 15 — 44
Bigfork 12 16 14 7 — 49
FLORENCE — Ryne Baerlocher 14, Rhett Baerlocher 4, Ryan Mangun 7, Brad Schaff 11, Aaron Ward 8.
BIGFORK — Austin Jordt 7, Seth Roessmann 10, Colter Trent 8, Chris Landon 7, Tyler Kirby 4, Christian Evans 13.