Charlo Vikings upset Mission, face Noxon Saturday

The Charlo Vikings avenged an ugly loss to Mission last month by handing the Bulldogs their second loss of the week — and year — in a 64-56 win Tuesday night behind a 20-for-21 performance from the free throw line and a career-high, 28-point game from post player Brandon Rollins.

The Bulldogs never gave up, but everything that could go Charlo's way did, and Mission couldn't buy a bucket — the exact opposite of last month's game in Mission where the 'Dogs had home field advantage.

"Home, sweet home," said Charlo coach Tyson Cottet. "Just being in this gym was probably the biggest factor."

Mission pressed from the start, but Joey Ray dished to Rollins for the lay-up twice in the opening minutes to give the Vikings a 13-8 lead, and they never looked back.

A steal by Bo Herak and a pass to Trey Sinclair got another bucket, and Ray finished the first quarter with two blocks. Rollins hit a bucket at the buzzer to give the team a 21-12 lead after one.

Herak opened the second quarter with a steal for a lay-up, and Sinclair had the hot hand, hitting several fall-away buckets. It seemed like everything went Charlo's way — they couldn't miss — while Mission was 0-for-6 from 3-point land in the second.

However, Mission's press proved difficult for the Vikings, and they were slapped with two 10-second backcourt violations due to the 'Dogs pressure.

"We worked on the press breaker more in practice, and ball handling, but Mission still gave us hick-ups all night," Cottet said.

Rollins was just getting warmed up, though, and hit another lay-up at the buzzer to give the team a 33-20 lead at half. It was at least Rollins' third buzzer-beater at a quarter in the past two weeks, after getting one in Arlee earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Mission had gone 0-for-10 from 3-point land in the first half.

Ray opened the second half with two more blocks, but Mission wasn't going away quietly. A steal and lay-up by 'Dog Tyler Trudeau bought Mission to within five at the end of three, and then a steal and lay-up by Gus McDonald brought Mission to within three.

But Charlo proved it had the mental toughness, going an amazing 15-for-16 from the free throw line in the fourth to get the win. Rollins, Aaron Young, and Sinclair were 4-for-4 from the line, while Herak hit 3-for-4, and Mission couldn't catch up.

Sinclair finished with 14 points, Ray had 11, Young had six and Herak had five.

The team was coming off a decisive 75-21 victory against St. Regis Saturday, but more importantly, must turn its attention to Noxon this weekend. Victor, Noxon, Charlo and Drummond are all within a half or one game of each other, depending on Tuesday night's scores around the district, which were unavailable by presstime. For the Class C teams, every game counts, including ones against Class B teams, so Tuesday night's win was even bigger.