Charlo falls short

POLSON – The near three month long regular season came down to one game for the Charlo Lady Vikings.  Monday’s Western C Divisional play-in game against Darby presented the Lady Vikings with two options, win and they’re in the divisional tournament, lose and they go home.  The former ended up being the result as Darby sent the Lady Vikings packing with a 39-38 nail-biting victory in Polson.

The Lady Vikings were in every position to avoid the critical play-in game against Darby on Monday.  However, a 30-25 loss to St. Regis in the first round of the district tournament immediately put the Lady Vikings behind the eight ball.  Charlo turned in a poor offensive effort against St. Regis, scoring just six points in the second and third quarters combined.  Charlo failed to get the ball to their offensive focal point Rachel Hoyt, as St. Regis’ zone was denying Hoyt passes into the post.  The Lady Vikings couldn’t shoot their way out of St. Regis’ zone either, going 4-13 from 3-point range and just 9 for 31 from the field.  

Hoyt led Charlo in scoring with 12 points and Jordan Ludeman had five, but no other Lady Viking was able to score over three points.  The five-point loss meant Charlo had their backs against the wall and had to fight to keep any hopes of advancing to the Division tournament alive.  

The Lady Vikings would rebound nicely, winning their next two games handily.  On Friday they destroyed Two Eagle 60-5 in the loser-out game.  Charlo let out a lot of offensive frustration built up from Thursday’s loss to St. Regis and outscored Two Eagle 24-1 in the first quarter.  Hoyt led the scoring barrage with 18 points.  Aspen Runkel had 14 and McKalistar Rosenbaum had 9.  

The Lady Vikings cruised in their third game 41-11 against Hot Springs, a game in which 11 Charlo players reached the scoring column.  The Hot Springs victory set up a rematch against St. Regis and a final chance to keep their post-season alive.  Unlike the first game against St. Regis, Charlo played their game and took a 21-9 lead heading into the break.  The Lady Vikings offense was much more efficient, shooting 17 for 31 (54.8 percent) from the field and won comfortably 42-21.  Haley Berkram’s 13 points and 9 rebounds led the Lady Viking charge and Ludeman contributed with 8.  The win set up Monday’s play-game with Darby.  

Stakes couldn’t be much higher at Polson as the Lady Vikings had one game to put them in the Western C Divisional Tournament.  Defense was at a premium as each player laid out everything they had on the defense end.  Darby would take a five-point lead with just over six minutes to go in the game.  Charlo would turn up the defensive intensity, pressing the Tigers full-court after every made basket in the fourth. 

The Lady Vikings would crawl back to make it a one-possession game.  The final minute would turn into a battle at the line, as every made Charlo basket, followed with Darby taking a trip to the line, in the Lady Vikings attempt to even the score.  The two teams traded points within the last minute, as Darby would cling to a small advantage.  

Leading 37-36, Darby stepped to the line shooting the double bonus.  After the first attempt missed hard off the back of the rim, Darby’s second attempt barely grazed the basket.  The two misses would’ve gave Charlo the opportunity for the last shot and the win, but the Tigers Julie Abrahausen sneaked inside, grabbed the miss free throw and converted on a put-back layup with just over 20 seconds to play. 

Now down 39-36, Charlo still had a chance to tie and when Ludeman’s 3-point shot was blocked, Charlo corralled the rebound only to hoist a two-point layup as the seconds ticked off, resulting in a 39-38 heartbreaking defeat.  

Ludeman’s valiant effort, 12 points, wasn’t enough and the Lady Vikings hard fought season came to a dramatic halt.  Charlo finished with an outstanding 17-6 record, but they’ve have to look back at late game mistakes against Darby and their struggles earlier against St. Regis and only be disappointed their season ended the way it did.