Column: A dozen wins later, a lot to like in Bigfork

Seven weeks back the Bigfork boys’ basketball team was taking its lumps with back-to-back losses to Deer Lodge and Thompson Falls, and trundling along with a 2-2 record.

This may be news to anybody outside that hoops-crazy town, but the Vikings haven’t lost since.

Now 12-2, second-year head coach John Hollow is pleased with the progress of what is a young team by any classification: He starts a freshman point guard alongside two sophomores.

“I don’t like to ever say we’re a year ahead of expectations,” Hollow says. “But it sure seems like we are.”

It’s a team that rotates six kids through the starting lineup and brings two 6-foot-3 sophomores, Nick Walker and Dane Hansen, off the bench. Sophomore Bryce Gilliard leads the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game; the lowest average among the top six is point guard Collin Wade at 6.2.

In between are four players – seniors Cormac Benn and Walker Fisher, sophomore Isak Epperly and junior Levi Taylor – getting from 8.8 to 10.9 points a game. Those numbers imply the team shares the ball, and Hollow confirms.

“This is really an awesome group of kids,” he said. “It’s the most selfless team I’ve been around, which is refreshing to see.”

The 43-year-old Hollow is a veteran of Montana high school basketball. He played at Butte Central for Chunky Thatcher, who one sent a freshman out to play denial defense on an official – an act that may or may not have resulted in the MHSA’s first fine of a coach. More recently Hollow was head coach at Helena High from 2011-17.

He had some success, including an 11-10 team that surged to third place at the State AA tournament in 2015. His next team was 14-10, including a 2-2 mark at state; his final Bengals’ team went 6-15.

Hollow took the next two years off.

“Truly I didn’t know if I would get back into coaching,” he said. “I’d been pretty much coaching since I was 18 years old, in one form or another.”

A pivot point came when he drove to Charlo to watch his son play a junior high football game, which lasted about 25 minutes by his reckoning. He drove six hours round-trip.

“I said if there was a business or computer job within an hour of where he was, I was going to put in,” Hollow said. “Everything fell into place, for whatever reason, but it’s been rejuvenating. It’s been fun.”

A year ago, Hollow’s first in Bigfork, the Vikings were struggling to the finish. They won 8 out of 9 at one point, then scuffled and lost Taylor to a broken ankle. Bigfork ended up going 11-12 with a Saturday morning loss at the Western B Divisionals.

The Vikings seem to be set up better for this year’s divisional, March 3-6 in Eureka. Bigfork’s off-season training program – shooting drills at 6 a.m., lifting at 7 a.m. – drew 35 kids.

“We had a huge buy-in,” Hollow said. “Our kids got a lot stronger. Last year we played freshmen and sophomores and – you could tell they were freshmen and sophomores.”

Benn, who transferred from Missoula Loyola when his dad Jim became football coach, has filled a huge role: guarding the opposing team’s best player.

“I’ve told a bunch of people the same thing: He’s as good a high school defender as I’ve been around,” Hollow said.

Benn, Epperly and Gilliard are neck-and-neck as top rebounders. Fisher had a series of strong games going into Monday’s contest at Loyola Sacred Heart, and the Rams responded with a box-and-one.

Bigfork still cruised, 60-44, behind 24 points from Gilliard. Gilliard also had 21 as Bigfork avenged its lone District 7-B loss with 67-60 win over Thompson Falls on Saturday.

Hollow loves a good man-to-man defense and Bigfork loves its hoops. They have a 5-10 center in Taylor, a do-everything player in Epperly, a defensive stopper in Benn, a couple snipers in Gilliard and Fisher. There is a lot to like.

“Buying into we, instead of me,” Hollow said. “Which is why we’re going good.”

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.