Lady Vikings advance to divisional

POLSON — Not perfect, but the Lady Vikings advance to divisionals.

The Lady Vikings of Charlo won Monday night against rival Two Eagle River 36-31 to advance to this week's divisionals in Butte.

Charlo's trip started with a first round bye and first had to face Hot Springs. The Lady Vikings had no problem defeating Hot Springs 48-29. Charlo's Amanda Murphy and Ma'rya Hungerford both netted 12 points in the Vikings victory.

Saturday was like nothing the Lady Vikings had seen in 32 district games, a loss. With the 39-37 nailbiter loss to the Noxon Red Devils, Charlo would have to face valley rival Two Eagle River, Monday night during the challenge game. It was winner advance, loser stays home.

After the first eight minutes it was Charlo with the 6-4 advantage over Two Eagle. The first quarter showed it was going to be a game of finesse and trying to avoid mistakes. Both teams struggled to get the ball inside to the post.

"Amanda Murphy played good on defense," said Charlo head coach Bret Thompson. "The whole team did well on defense."

Two Eagle's Desara Patten started things off in the second quarter by hitting a basket to tie the game at 6. But Charlo's Ma'rya Hungerford quickly answered by driving to the basket and picking up the easy bucket. By half it looked to be a defensive game when both teams went into the locker it was Two Eagle up 12-10.

Two Eagle came out of the locker room with determination not to give up to the No. 2 Lady Vikings.

With 6:10 left in the third quarter it was Two Eagle up 20-12. But Charlo was far from throwing in the towel. Charlo's Amanda Murphy stole the ball and picked up an easy basket to tied the game at 20-20. The Lady Vikings slowly started to wear away the Eagles' lead. Both teams traded baskets during the third quarter. By the end of the third it was Charlo that had taken control and had the two-point advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

Two Eagle's Patten was the answer the Eagles were looking for as she scored a basket to tie the game at 26.

But Charlo's Sam Lemmon answered with a bucket herself.

With 35 seconds left Charlo called a time out. Charlo's Samijo Kain hit a free throw to move the Vikings ahead 31-29 with 24 seconds left. With 12 seconds left Two Eagle's Patten made it 33-31, but the Vikings proved their pose by controlling the ball. Hungerford hit two from the line to put Charlo up 35-31.

Charlo played the clock right and walked away with the victory over Two Eagle.

"It was the closest we have come to them," said Two Eagle coach Jami Hanson. "We (Two Eagle) have a tough team and we came ready to play."

With the win the Lady Vikings (19-2) will face White Sulphur Springs (16-5) at 12:30 in Butte.

"We played hard and Two Eagle did a good job against us," said Thompson.

Charlo 36, Two Eagle 31

Two Eagle 4 8 12 7 - 31

Charlo 6 4 16 10 - 36

TWO EAGLE: Catherine Addison 2, Jessica OldPerson 4, Desara Patten 12, Whitney Brown 11, Charla Brown 1, Shanita Wall 1.

CHARLO: Ma'rya Hungerford 12, Amanda Murphy 4, Jessica Bucholz 10, Hayley Carr 2, Stevie Sammons 2, Samijo Kain 2.

Charlo 48, Hot Springs 29

Hot Springs 2 9 10 8 - 29

Charlo 9 11 16 12 - 48

HOT SPRINGS: Lindsay Bras 2, Suzanne Schmidbauer 1, Tommie Lesebigler 2, Brittney Graham 9, Shea Jeffries 2, Waylor Wood 12, Carrie Fisher 1.

CHARLO: Amanda Murphy 12, Ma'rya Hungerford 12, Hayley Carr 8, Rhondell Esterby 4, Jessica Bucholz 4, Sam Lemmon 2, Stevie Sammons 3, Kendra Coburn 2, Samijo Kain 1.

Noxon 39, Charlo 37

Noxon 5 11 14 9 - 39

Charlo 4 11 11 11 - 38

NOXON: Karissa Wilson 12, Bonnie Smith 11, Courtney Anderson 2, Stephanie Conte 6, Heather Wilson 4, Renae Stettler 4.

CHARLO: Sam Lemmon 5, Stevie Sammons 6, Ma'rya Hungerford 9, Amanda Murphy 5, Jessica Bucholz 4, Hayley Carr 6, Rondell Esterby 2.