Vikings prepare for second portion of conference schedule

Charlo Vikings boys basketball coach Reese Cox has developed a reputation around the valley for his meticulous game planning and tailor-made plans that have stifled some of the top teams in the Western portion of Class C basketball.

Cox and his Vikings got a lot of Class C’s attention when they were able to stay within four points of Plains, a team Cox said he felt is “state bound,” and brought them to within four points at halftime by getting Jay VonHeeder in foul trouble.

Since being hired as the Vikings’ basketball coach, Cox had marked the Jan. 11 game against the defending Class C state champion Arlee Warriors on his calendar with the hope he could devise a successful plan against Class C’s elite team.

“One thing that Arlee does really well is they have such a swagger that is able to intimidate any opponent,” Cox said. “That is a really good quality to have when facing opponents. They can just instill fear into the other team before the basketball is even tipped off.”

Cox, whose team lost to Arlee, said he doesn’t feel his team will be intimidated again the next time they face Arlee in the second half of conference play.

“The score doesn’t reflect how close the game was,” Cox said. “It was frustrating to take a loss like that but the information that we gained about ourselves is that our players were able to keep their heads up even though the odds were against us the whole night. Our boys reacted well with our backs against the wall. They took their punches and went with it. They never got down or upset. They played well in a fairly hostile environment and were able to take their lumps. Our team just kept battling and they didn’t let it affect them too bad.”

One area Cox said he was “pleased” with his team’s ability was their ability to defend one of the Warriors top-caliber weapons, Phillip Malatare.

“It’s really hard when you look at the stats of that game,” Cox said. “I came out of that game pretty happy that we actually held Malatare to a double-double. Landers Smith answered with a double-double of his own and finished the night only two points behind Malatare.”

At the end of the game, Cox was able to talk to Warriors’ coach Zanen Pitts and he has concluded that he feels Arlee will contend for their second consecutive state championship title.

“These guys are going to repeat for another state championship,” Cox exclaimed. “This team is just too dangerous. They know where each other is at and know where they are going to be five seconds before they are there. They are really incredible to watch. You have to really get after them if you have any chance of beating them. I told my team ‘we just lost to a state championship team and that is not something to hang your hat on this one because you went into the cage with a beast.’”

As Reese prepares his team for the second half of the conference schedule, his team has some momentum despite the hard fall to the defending champs. The Vikings bounced back and won a critical game by defeating Hot Springs the following night.

“The kind of progression that I would like to see our team make is that we grow a little bit more with our basketball intelligence every day and start playing a lot smarter,” Cox said. “I would like to see our team play clean, crisp basketball and minimize unwanted turnovers and continue with all of our positive stats. I hope we are fine tuning our shooting. I think we will get better with our shooting during each game and each day.”

Cox said he would continue to implement additional strategies as the season progresses.

“I still have more strategies, game plans and defenses to put in and I’ve come into the season trying not to show too much at the start of the season,” Cox said. “I still want to keep some things in my back pocket, be able to use them at the right time, and have more different types of defenses that the rest of the teams we play will have to face.”