Lady Vikings win two, but drop heartbreaker to Mission

The Charlo Lady Vikings are off to a solid start, notching two wins over Lincoln and Victor last weekend after losing a close one, 29-27, to Mission Tuesday night.

"We had a chance to win with a three [pointer] and tie with a two, but couldn't get either one to fall," said head coach Bret Thompson. "Tonight was the offensive blues."

Individual results for the Lady Vikings were unavailable.

On Friday, the girls picked up a 45-40 victory over Lincoln, led by 14 points from Haley Carr, followed by eight points from Rhondell Esterby. The Lady Vikes had a solid offensive attack by spreading the scoring around, with Amanda Murphy getting seven points and Jessica Bucholz getting six, followed by Ma'rya Hungerford and Samijo Kain with four and Stevie-Leigh Sammons with two.

On Saturday, the Lady Vikes had home court advantage against Victor, and started off in a man-to-man defense almost immediately, and when Victor jumped out to a 5-0 lead, they went to a full-court press.

Hungerford got the team on the board with a steal, driving in for the lay-up, but it was the only score of the first quarter. But the girls found their momentum in the next quarter, as Bucholz scored to open it and then stole the ball and added another lay-up to bring the team to within three points.

Sammons then had a steal and a lay-up, drawing the foul, and another lay-up by Carr brought the team to within one point. A three-pointer by Kain, who led the team with 10 points total, gave the girls their first lead of the night and they never looked back.

Victor responded by going man-to-man, which caused a few turnovers, but the girls held onto the lead. A tip-in by Murphy with 30 seconds left in the half made it 17-15. Kain opened the second half with another trey, and then Hungerford went coast-to-coast for the lay-up. The girls held onto a 27-24 lead going into the fourth. Bucholz did a great job snagging some offensive rebounds to give the team a boost, and then a lay-up and free throw by Carr made it 33-28 with just over a minute left. A steal by Esterby with 30 seconds left cinched the win for the Lady Vikings.

Hungerford and Bucholz finished with six points, Carr had five, Murphy had four, Sammons had three and Esterby had one.

"Defensively we played well in our first two games, but Lincoln was our best game in terms of offense. Credit goes to Hayley Carr on Friday and Samijo Kain on Saturday," Thompson said. "But we're not going to win very many games unless we score in the high 30's or 40's."

Charlo will travel to Hot Springs on Friday and Noxon and Saturday before hosting Seeley Swan next Tuesday, the last game before Christmas break.