Charlo girls shut down Superior

CHARLO - If basketball teams were pitchers, than the Lady

Vikings might be up for a Cy Young award.

CHARLO - If basketball teams were pitchers, than the Lady Vikings might be up for a Cy Young award.

In their season opener against Superior on Friday, Charlo pitched a shutout in the third quarter en route to a 32-27 victory over the Lady Bobcats.

"It felt great," said junior Kinley Pope, who had nine points in the game for Charlo. "That was after we went into the locker room at halftime a little frazzled."

Charlo found themselves trailing Superior 15-14 at the half despite a 10-6 Lady Vikings lead in the first quarter.

"They realized what they did wrong," head coach Bret Thompson said.

With it being the first game of the season and with shots not falling easily for the Lady Vikings, they took it upon themselves to make up for it on the defensive end and while it kept Superior's point total down, it also got the team in foul trouble.

"Our bench was kind of thrown to the wolves," Thompson said. "But they kept us alive."

That 13-0 third quarter for Charlo changed the complexion of the game and it appeared to signify that the girls had overcome the first game nervousness.

"We had young girls going through it," Pope said. "I was going through it because we didn't have the group of older players. I was one of the older players. Once we got out there we got through it."

Junior Deondra Brown also added eight points in the victory.

There were no jitters to be found on the road against Alberton on Saturday, as the Lady Vikings jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 50-25 victory.

"It was definitely a different type of game," Thompson said. "Things went better and we got a lot of playing time for all 11 girls."

Pope was again a focal point on offense, scoring a team and game-high 15 points.

"She's a competitor," Thompson said. "She gives up a lot as far as size but she creates a lot for us offensively."

Usually going up against girls taller than her, Pope's physical and fearless style of play is hard to ignore on the court. It also opens up the outside shooting for the Lady Vikings.

Sophomore Rachel Hoyt scored nine and freshman Jordan Ludeman scored seven.

Friday's game

Superior - 6 - 9 - 0 - 12 - 27

Charlo - 10 - 4 - 13 - 5 - 32

Lady Vikings scoring - Kinley Pope 9, Deondra Brown 9, Jessica Faust 6, Dawn Blevins 4, Rachel Hoyt 4

Saturday's game

Charlo - 13 - 13 - 18 - 6 - 50

Alberton - 5 - 5 - 11 - 4 - 25

Lady Vikings scoring - Kinley Pope 15, Rachel Hoyt 9, Jordan Ludeman 7, Deondra Brown 6, Royelle Esterby 5, Dawn Blevins 4, Kelsie Blevins 3, Jessica Foust 1.