Vikings come back from break with big win over Buffaloes

MONDOVI — After not playing a game since Dec. 20, fans and coaches may have been a little concerned as to how the Colfax boys’ basketball team would respond when they faced an always tough Mondovi team on the Buffaloes’ home court Jan. 4. But the Vikings showed they were more than ready to play when they came out with some sharp shooting and strong defense early on, allowing them to cruise to a 71-42 win.

Five players put points up in the first quarter for Colfax with Austin Huss going to the hoop for three buckets and a free toss while Cody Zivcic did his job from long range with a pair of treys. Sawyer DeMoe hit from underneath, and a big cheer from the Colfax crowd went up when Lane Olson, after a long lay off due to a foot injury, scored from close range. Ethin Kiekhafer finished the quarter off with a final basket and the Vikings held a 19-8 advantage.

Zivcic started the second stanza off with another triple and it was all Colfax  the rest of the quarter as they used both a man to man defense and a 2-3 zone to keep the Buffaloes off balance and they pulled out to a 39-13 halftime lead. Jarrod Rudi, Huss and DeMoe all collected four points in the quarter while Kiekhafer canned a three ball and Olson went 2 for 2 at the foul line.

“We did a nice job coming back after a long break,” Vikings coach Andy Meade said. “We played with a lot of intensity against a Mondovi team that is struggling with some injuries.”

Olson hit the first two buckets of the third quarter for the Vikings and added his third after a deuce by Huss and another long ball by Zivcic and Colfax went up 50-20. They finished off the game with 17 fourth quarter points, including six from the foul line, to go with Zivcic’s fifth shot from downtown, Huss’ second two hand slam of the game and a couple of shots from the paint from Joe Wahl.

“We had a solid floor game Kiekhafer, Rudi and Huss,” Meade said. “Zivcic also played extremely well and DeMoe had a great all around game on both ends of the floor. And it was nice getting Olson back as he really creates a lot of problems for our opponents,” he added.

Huss finished with 17 points to lead the Vikings while Zivcic added 15, all on those long range shots. Olson ended his night with 12 points.

Colfax is 8-2 on the season and hosts Elk Mound this Thursday, Jan. 10 for a conference showdown. The Mounders are undefeated in conference play while the Vikings have one loss.

COLFAX (71) Huss 7-3-5-17, Zivcic 5-0-0-15, Olson 5-2-2-12, DeMoe 4-0-0-8, Kiekhafer 2-2-4-7, Rudi 1-2-2-4, Wahl 2-0-0-4, B. Kragness 0-2-2-2, J. Wait 0-1-2-1, G. Phillips 0-1-2-1

MONDOVI (42) Q. Buchholz 3-4-6-10, M. Konitzer 4-0-0-10, AJ Risler 3-0-0-8, B. Vetterkind 3-0-2-7, E. Palmer 2-1-2-5, I. Scott 1-0-0-2

THREE POINTERS: Civcic 5, Risler 2, Konitzer 2, Kiekhafer 1, Vetterkind 1