Lady Vikings return to divisionals

PABLO – The Charlo Lady Vikings punched their ticket to the Class C Divisionals for the first time since 2011 with clutch victories over Arlee and St. Regis to capture the District Championship title Feb. 15-17 at Joe McDonald Gym at Salish Kootenai College.

The catalyst that allowed the Lady Vikings to carve a path to a berth in Divisionals was their 46-24 semifinal victory over the county rival Arlee and their ability to neutralize what coach Bret Thompson refers to as one of the “best players in Class C,” Alyssa Vanderberg.

The Lady Vikings, who had lost to Arlee 49-42 on Feb. 12, made some defensive modifications in preparation for their semifinal game against the Scarlets and successfully neutralized Vanderberg by getting her in foul trouble. Vanderberg had a total of three fouls before the conclusion of the first half.

“We had some scoring like we’ve had all year and we just made a few changes,” Thompson said. “When you play someone two times, we decided to change things up a little bit. Our changes that we made got Vanderberg into foul trouble and caused the Scarlets frustration because of how we defended them. The difference this time is that we got up and got after the ball, and got easy looks and easy shots at the basket. That was the big difference.”

The victory over Arlee in the semifinals and the 37-17 victory over the St. Regis Lady Tigers allowed the Lady Vikings to punch their ticket to the Class C Divisionals on Feb. 22-24 at Hamilton High School.

Charlo will play Seeley-Swan, a team they defeated earlier in the season with a come-from-behind fourth period comeback.

“We were behind most of the game and then we were able to put a little bit of a run together against Seeley,” Thompson said. “We didn’t beat them by a lot. The Seeley game should be a good game. Ennis has been in the top 10 and Manhattan Christian has competed in the 11-C. We’ve been competing all year against taller teams but we’ve found ways to compete against those teams that are big.”

Thompson said he felt one of the team’s biggest strategies towards combating the size differential is pure hustle. Last year, the Arlee Warriors were able to overcome their size differential with their tallest starting player being listed at 5-feet-10 inches. Thompson knows his team will have to work hard to compensate, but he expressed faith in his team.

“We have to be able to block out every time and if you are a taller team, you don’t have to block out every time,” Thompson said. “You have the ability to rebound without doing some of those things. A big part of a number of girls we are using we play every night. I’ve played nine and ten girls in our big game and that helped at the end of the game to be able to get the right girls on the floor.”

Thompson attributed his team’s success to improving each and every time his Lady Vikes have stepped on the court. The fact his team has been relatively healthy all season has also helped out his cause.

“Every game, we’ve gotten a little better at something and with having one senior we are using some seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen,” Thompson said. “One player isn’t getting more playing time than the other as long as they keep playing well. We have a chance at anyone in Divisionals. We had seven out of eight girls score in double figures. Anytime someone is not playing well, there is someone behind them filling in that void. Our leading scorer on the season only had two points in the District Championship. We ended up with three players leading us in scoring against St. Regis because they didn’t make it easy.”

Thompson said he anticipates a fight against Seeley-Swan.

“Seeley has three really good outside shooters and two big girls in the middle,” Thompson said. “They will press a little more than some of the teams in our District.”

Thompson has been in the business of basketball long enough to know that come February and March, it isn’t just the team that is peaking at the optimal time that wins. It is also the team that can remain healthy. Thompson attributes his team’s late-season run to the fact his Lady Vikes are finally healthy.

“Right now, we are pretty healthy and this time of year, as long as we can stay healthy, that is going to really help us,” Thompson said. “We are definitely moving in the right direction.”

In order to have a successful tournament run, Thompson knows another critical factor is being able to execute properly, especially when the majority of teams they play have a definitive height advantage on Charlo. He knows his team is going to have to make some adjustments to beat Seeley twice in a row.

“We were behind the whole game and I looked at part of our game film to see what we did to get the lead,” Thompson said. “Both of our teams have made adjustments and we will have to make lots of adjustments. They are going to watch and run for our defense against their offense.”

The Lady Vikings know the possibility exists to be able to play the Scarlets during the course of this double-elimination Divisional tournament.

“It was fun to see the girls be able to play and execute the game plan,” Thompson said. “Vanderberg is probably the best player that our girls will ever play against. It literally took girls stepping up and scoring. We had to make a lot of changes in our defense and it took some other players to be able to get some opportunities to make shots.”

The following are the statistics from the Class 14-C Western girls bracket played on Feb. 15-17 at Salish Kootenai College:

14-C Championship

Charlo 37, St. Regis 17

In the 14C championship at SKC’s Joe McDonald gym in Pablo, Lady Viking defense suffocated St. Regis offensive efforts over the course of the opening frames of both halves as Charlo caged the Lady Tigers for the right to be coronated with the district crown. Kaitlin Cox turned in her third dabble among double digits for game high scoring honors, while Cox and Teaira Truman combined to more than offset St. Regis point productivity while the rest of the squad accounted for the margin of victory. Allie Delaney dished her eleventh assist and swiped her tenth steal of the tournament to supplement her seventeenth rebound of the weekend.

Charlo (16-5)

St. Regis 0 10 1 6 – 17

Charlo 12 7 14 4 – 37

ST. REGIS – Madison Kelly 7, Anna Sanford 5, Justice Tate 3, Emma Hill 2.

CHARLO – Kaitlin Cox 4 0-0 10, Teaira Truman 3 0-1 9, Liev Smith 2 2-2 6, *Carlee Fryberger 1 2-2 4, Destiny Manuel 0 2-2 2, Sakoya Gaustad 1 0-2 2, *Tyrah Hammond 2, *Allie Delaney 2.

3FGs: C5-10 (Truman 3-3, Cox 2-5). C29reb (Cox 6, Gaustad 5, Fryberger 4, Delaney 4, Truman 3, Smith 3, Manuel 2, Hammond 2). C9ast (Delaney 3, Truman, Cox, Manuel, Gaustad, Fryberger, Smith). C19stl (Delaney 5, Gaustad 4, Fryberger 3, Hammond 2, Truman, Cox, Manuel, Johnson, Bella Hawk). C1blk (Fryberger). (Sa17Feb18gm20dist)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where sideline specs differ from venue/media coverage: 31p (Fryberger 2p, Hammond 0p, Delaney 0p).

Charlo 47, Arlee 24 (semi)

In a 14C semifinal at SKC’s Joe McDonald gym in Pablo, the Lady Vikings flipped the script on the higher seeded Scarlets by holding their opponent to their lowest scoring total of the season to vault themselves into the championship. Charlo’s Kaitlin Cox and Arlee’s Alyssia Vanderburg shared game high scoring honors. Lady Vikings Allie Delaney and Liev Smith each reeled in double-digit rebounds that included a combined ten offensive boards.

Charlo (15-5), Arlee (15-5)

Arlee 7 5 5 7 – 24

Charlo 11 11 8 16 – 46*

ARLEE – Alyssia Vanderburg 14, Nellie Desjarlais 6, Emily Fiddler 3, Noelle West 1.

CHARLO – Kaitlin Cox 3 6-8 14, Tyrah Hammond 3 3-4 9, Sakoya Gaustad 3 1-2 7, *Allie Delaney 3 0-0 6, Carlee Fryberger 1 2-2 4, Liev Smith 2 0-2 4, Destiny Manuel 0 2-2 2.

3FGs: C2-5 (Cox 2-4). C33reb (Smith 11, Delaney 10, Cox 5, Truman 2, Gaustad 2, Manuel, Hammond, Fryberger). C8ast (Delaney 3, Truman, Manuel, Gaustad, Fryberger, Smith). C6stl (Gaustad 2, Cox, Manuel, Hammond, Delaney).

(Fr16Feb18gm10dist)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where sideline specs differ from venue/media coverage: C(4Q12p)47p (Delaney 7p)

Charlo 55, Hot Springs 23

Allie Delaney became a card carrying century (100) club credential holder for varsity career scoring.

Charlo (14-5),

Charlo 13 14 13 15 – 55

Hot Springs 13 4 4 2 – 23

CHARLO – Kaitlin Cox 4 1-1 12, Teaira Truman 4 0-0 11, Sakoya Gaustad 5 0-0 10, Tyrah Hammond 1 3-4 5, *Destiny Manuel 2 0-2 4, Adriana Johnson 2 0-0 4, Allie Delaney 2 0-0 4, Taylor Olsen 0 2-2, Carlee Fryberger 2, Bella Hawk 1, Liev Smith 0 0-2 0 .

HOT SPRINGS – McKennzie Cannon 8, Sydney Jackson 7, Lizzy Fisher 3, Danielle Graham 3, Stacy Gray 2.

3FGs: C6-13 (Cox 3-6, Truman 3-6). C34reb (Hammond 7, Smith 6, Manuel 5, Fryberger 5, Gaustad 4, Delaney 3, Truman, Cox, Johnson, Olsen). C15ast (Delaney 5, Cox 3, Truman 2, Gaustad 2, Fryberger 2, Olsen). C15stl (Delaney 4, Manuel 3, Hammond 2, Gaustad 2, Fryberger 2, Cox, Johnson). C5blk (Cox 3, Manuel, Smith).

(Th15Feb18gm4dist)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where sideline specs differ from venue/media coverage: Manuel 5p

** — * — * — * — **

14-C consolation

Arlee 54, Hot Springs 28

Arlee 15 16 13 10 – 54

Darby 3 7 14 4 – 28

ARLEE – Alyssia Vanderburg 26, Nellie Desjarlais 11, Sydni Rogers 5, Emily Fiddler 2, Summer DarcAngelo 2, Peyton Lammerding 2.

HOT SPRINGS – Sydney Jackson 9, Stacy Gray 4, Sage Jackson 4, Lizzy Fisher 4, McKennzie Cannon 3, Danielle Graham 2. (Sa17Feb18gm18dist)

Arlee 65, Two Eagle River 3

Arlee (15-4), Two Eagle (1-18)

Arlee 23 17 8 17 – 65

Two Eagle 0 0 3 0 – 3

ARLEE – Alyssia Vanderburg 20, Nellie Desjarlais 12, Halle Adams 7, Peyton Lammerding 6, Summer DarcAngelo 5, Shelby Smith 5, Sydni Rogers 5, Noelle West 4.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Justina BigBeaver 3

(Th15Feb18gm6dist)

Hot Springs 54, Two Eagle 18 (lo)

Two Eagle (1-19)

Two Eagle 5 5 2 6 – 18

Hot Springs 15 9 22 8 – 54

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Justina Big Beaver 5, Phaedra Yellowbird 4, Kyra Aimsback 4, TaRae Goodluck 3, Patience After Buffalo 2.

HOT SPRINGS – McKennzie Cannon 12, Sydney Jackson 10, Stacy Gray 8, Sage Jackson 6, Lexie DeTienne 6, Danielle Graham 4, Lizzy Fisher 3, CheyAnna Perry 2, Breeze Clark 2, Emma Rae Rasmussen 1.

(Fr16Feb18gm8dist)