Bulldogs cannot convert

BIGFORK — The Mission boys basketball team worked on many things during last week’s practices but the team was unable to translate them to its games.

Blocking out, transitions and half-court offense were on the agenda in rehearsal.

“We worked hard all week, in all three areas,” head coach Lloyd Phillips said. “We had a good week of practice and I thought we were ready to compete.”

Against Bigfork, the Bulldogs lost 66-23 after giving up 19 offensive rebounds, allowing 16 points in transition and 27 turnovers.

Bigfork came out rolling, scoring 44 points to Mission’s 13 in the first half. Senior Jake Durglo led with nine points and senior Jorren Gies added eight rebounds.

Phillips said that his key players need to step up more.

“I know we could see Bigfork against in the district tournament,” he said.

Last Saturday, Mission returned home to host Eureka and looked for a win but 13 missed scoring opportunities in the first quarter “would haunt us for the rest of the night,” Phillips said.

The Bulldogs ended the first quarter up 11-9, going five-for-nine in the field.

With six minutes left in the second quarter, Mission was ahead 16-8 but put Eureka at the line for double bonus’ with the clock stopped.

“This wasn’t good,” Phillips said. “Eureka was tired and we were in control. This had a major impact on the final outcome.”

Eureka went on to capitalize on Mission’s fouls, making 82 percent at the line, while the Bulldogs made 33 percent.

Gies led Mission with 16 points and Durglo had nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs traveled to Arlee on Tuesday night. Scores were unavailable at press time. Mission travels to Troy on Friday and hosts Seeley on Saturday.