Vikings rock Elmwood Raiders

COLFAX — Four players scored in double figures for the Colfax boys as they avenged an earlier loss to the Elmwood Raiders by a score of 66-48 on Parents Night in the Vikings’ gym Feb. 9.

The Saturday night game was a make-up of the game scheduled for Jan. 29 and puts the Vikings in a tough stretch as they host Mondovi on Tuesday then travel to Elk Mound to end the regular season on Friday, Feb. 15.

It was a relatively close game through the first half with the Vikings holding an 11-9 lead after the first quarter with four players coming up with points starting with Ethin Kiekhafer’s deuce.Sawyer DeMoe added a put back and a pair of free tosses, Lane Olson went strong to the hoop for two points and Cody Zivcic connected on the first of three triples for the night.

The Vikings went on a 10 point run to start the second stanza as DeMoe scored from underneath, Kiekhafer nailed a trey which was followed by Zivcic’s second one. Zivcic then swiped the ball and found DeMoe in the paint for a short jumper for a 21-9 lead. A fierce but perhaps a little over zealous defense allowed the Raiders to get into bonus free throws halfway through the quarter and they scored seven of their 11 points from the foul line. Colfax kept scoring themselves however, as Olson connected from close range and Joe Wahl scored in the lane. After a couple of minutes with a lot of action by both teams, the result was a seven point run by the Raiders, cutting the Colfax lead to 28-20 at the break.

After extending their lead to 40-27, the free throw line for both teams may need a new paint job as the Vikings were there for 28 attempts while Elmwood shot 15 times in the final quarter. Kiekhafer’s footprints are probably embedded on the line since he was there seven times, knocking down 10 of 13. DeMoe connected on 3 of 5, Jarrod Rudi was 2 for 2, Olson was 2 for 4 and Zivcic went 1 for 2. The Raiders hit just 10 of their attempts and the Vikings never let them get closer then 12 points the whole quarter.

“I thought we played solid in every area of the game,” coach Andy Meade said. “Elmwood can score a lot of points but we played an exceptional defense. We had great balance in scoring and the game got a little extended in the final quarter, with a lot of fouls on both teams. It’s not going to get any easier the rest of the season,” he added.

Kiekhafer came up with a season high 23 points to lead the Vikings while DeMoe also had his high game so far with 17. Zivcic finished with 12 points and Olson added 10. Colfax went 22 for 34 at the charity stripe while Elmwood was 19 for 29. The Raider’s leading scorer Logan Wolf scored 19 points including 10 on free throws and their second leading scorer Kyle Webb ended the night with 11.

Colfax received the number two seed in the regional behind Elk Mound and will begin play Friday, Feb. 22 at home.

COLFAX (66) Kiekhafer 5-12-15-23, DeMoe 6-5-7-17, Zivcic 4-1-6-12, Olson 4-2-4-10, Rudi 0-2-2-2, Wahl 1-0-0-2

ELMWOOD (48) Wolf 4-10-15-19, Webb 4-3-6-11, E. Fredrickson 2-2-2-7, T. LaFlex 2-1-2-6, S. Jones 1-1-2-3, D. Rhy 0-2-2-2

THREE POINTERS: Zivcic 3, Kiekhafer 1, LaFlex 1, Fredrickson 1, Wolf 1