Vikings hoopsters get back-to-back key conference victories

The Charlo Vikings boys basketball team evened their conference win total with two conference victories against Noxen and Two Eagle before heading into the break. Vikings’ Coach Gale Decker said he was pleased at how his team performed against what he referred to as a “much improved” Noxen squad. Charlo defeated Noxen 61-53 Tuesday night. Decker said he still felt there is plenty of room for improvement for his young Vikings’ squad as they head into the winter break. The Vikings were outscored by three points in the fourth quarter. “You know, against Noxen we never really got into any kind of flow,” Decker said. “We put (Noxen) to the free throw line quite a bit early in the second half and we just could never really put them away.” Vikings’ guard Tyson Petticrew led Charlo with 19 points and five 3-point shots. Landers Smith scored 16 points and was 8-of-16 from the free throw line. Hafliger scored 12 points. Haflinger not only contributed in offensive production but also held Noxon’s leading scorer to 12 points. “I thought Halflinger did a great job defensively,” Decker said.

Charlo 61, Noxon 53

At Charlo

Noxon 12 8 12 20 – 53

Charlo 10 21 13 17 – 61

NOXON – Quincy Grupenhoff 12, Logan Wood 9, Alex Currie 8, Aaron Brodmerkle 8, RyanWeltz 7, Ethan Henricksen 5, Cody Cable 4.

CHARLO – Tyson Petticrew 19, Landers Smith 16, Zane Hafliger 12, Brady Fryberger 8, Nate Delaney 2, Garett Vaughan 2, Brock Tomlin. (Tu20Dec16)

Charlo 72, Two Eagle River 36 The Vikings catapulted to an early 10-0 lead against Two Eagle River and didn’t relinquish their established momentum in a 72-36 victory Thursday night at Charlo High School gymnasium. “Against Two Eagle River, we just came out from the start and we played hard, ran a little half court trap and executed really well,” Decker said. “However, we were putting them to the free throw line. That’s our problem all year. With our pressure defense, we spent too much time putting them to the free throw line.” The Vikings had contributions from Petticrew, who led the team with 14, Smith had 11, and Haflinger had nine. “We had some good, balanced scoring and overall, I thought that this was one of the best games we played all year,” Decker said. “We ended up with 13 assists for the game and that is always good when you get that many assists (in a game).”

Charlo 61, Noxon 53

At Charlo

Two Eagle 5 16 10 5 – 36

Charlo 19 23 13 13 – 72

TWO EAGLE – Drey Tenas 13, Austin Guardipee 5, Brendan McDonald 4, Chasen Curley 4, Bronco Branson 3, Stanley Alexander 3, Josiah Nichols 2, Brandon Larios 2.

CHARLO – Kane Shenyer 15, Tyson Petticrew 14, Landers Smith 11, Zane Hafliger 9, Nate Delaney 6, Toby Odom 5, Garett Vaughan 4, Brady Fryberger 4, Brock Tomlin 4. (Th22Dec16) Vikings prep for 2nd half run Vikings Coach Gale Decker understands the highly competitive landscape of his team’s district as they prepare to head to the second half of the season. “From top to bottom, our district is better than they were last year,” Decker said. “Arlee and Plains are good teams. When you have two of the top-ranked teams, that kind of speaks well for our district.” Decker said his team’s main focal point headed into the second half is the Vikings’ depth. “We are developing some depth and trying to get a rotation by tournament time,” Decker said. “Some of these sophomores are playing significant minutes and we are going to need to play more come tournament time. It may cost us a game or two but (come tournament time), we will be much deeper. We will be tested by tournament time and be much deeper during that part of the year. This part of the year is good preparation for divisionals.”