CHARLO BB RECAP: Tough task

PABLO - Going into a pair of games over the week against the Two

Eagle River Eagles and Noxon Red Devils, the Charlo Vikings knew

they had their hands full. And while they dropped both games, they

didn't go down without a fight.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, three Vikings scored in double digits, but

Charlo couldn't erase an early deficit, falling 56-55 to the Eagles

in Pablo.

PABLO - Going into a pair of games over the week against the Two Eagle River Eagles and Noxon Red Devils, the Charlo Vikings knew they had their hands full. And while they dropped both games, they didn't go down without a fight.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, three Vikings scored in double digits, but Charlo couldn't erase an early deficit, falling 56-55 to the Eagles in Pablo.

"At the end of the game, we'd make a comeback and something would happen that prevented us from getting over the hump," Charlo head coach Mike Brown said. "I told the kids we didn't lose, we just ran out of time."

Webb O'Neill led the Vikings with 16 points, while Dillon Delaney added 14 and Tra Ludeman 11.

Two Eagle took a 15-7 lead after the first quarter, but Charlo had an answer, cutting the score to 27-25 at halftime. Each team scored 10 in the third and even with a 20-point fourth, the Vikings couldn't complete the comeback.

Kolten Andrews scored eight points, Stephen Delaney four and Tristan Santee two for Charlo, which split the home-and-home series with their rivals to the north this season.

Unfortunately, the Vikings couldn't earn a split with the Red Devils. Noxon handed Charlo their first loss of the season right before Christmas break and gave them their third loss on Friday, Jan. 27, 64-44.

Dillon Delaney led Viking scorers with 14 points, while starters Andrews and O'Neill had 10 and 9, respectively, but a slow start put Charlo in a hole they couldn't dig out of.

Noxon blitzed the Vikings, taking an 11-1 lead out of the gate and held a 17-8 advantage after one thanks to three three-pointers and a feverish pace that saw the Red Devils convert several easy buckets.

"I told them to relax," Brown said. "They were upset they were getting open looks that weren't falling.

"That's our style (up-and-down) and Noxon likes to grind," Brown added. "We like to get it going and wear teams down."

Both teams scored 10 points in the second, but Charlo opened the third quarter with back-to-back threes to cut the score to 30-27.

That's as close as they'd get, however, as Noxon answered that surge with an 8-0 run to get the lead back to double figures. The Vikings bounced back later in the quarter to make it a 40-34 game, but again, the Red Devils had a response. A 9-1 spurt to close the third gave Noxon a commanding 49-35 edge and they'd tack on 11 of the fourth's first 15 points to put the game away.

Brown acknowledged that the week was a challenge for Charlo, but commended his team for not giving in.

"It was tough," Brown said. "The boys kept fighting, they just couldn't get shots to fall."

The Vikings look to rebound on Friday when they head to Superior for a big rematch with the Bobcats. Charlo knocked off Superior 49-48 in early January. The next night, the Vikings will enjoy Senior Night when they host Phillipsburg.

CHARLO @ TERS

Charlo - 7 - 18 - 10 - 20 - 55

TERS - 15 - 12 - 10 - 19 - 56

Vikings scoring - Webb O'Neill 16, Dillon Delaney 14, Tra Ludeman 11, Kolten Andrews 8, Stephen Delaney 4, Tristan Santee 2

NOXON @ CHARLO

Noxon - 17 - 10 - 22 - 15 - 64

Charlo - 8 - 10 - 17 - 9 - 44

VIkings scoring - Dillon Delaney 14, Kolten Andrews 10, Webb O'Neill 9, Tra Ludeman 3, Stephen Delaney 2, Dalton Delaney 2, Kail Pope 2, Jesse Long 1, Tristan Santee 1