Vikings win one, lose one, head into break with 2-4 record

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By Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent

Playing four games in a span of six days is (as the saying goes) a player’s dream and a coach’s nightmare. That seemed to be the case for the Colfax boys and their coach Mark Noll.

After playing games on Thursday and Saturday, they played back-to-back games Monday, December 21 and Tuesday, December 22. The Vikings traveled to face the New Auburn Trojans in a non-conference battle on Monday and gave up a big lead, dropping the contest 54-53, but got a huge win when it counted most as they defeated Elmwood/Plum City at home in a Dunn-St. Croix Conference contest 63-48.

The Vikings are 2-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Colfax will resume action Tuesday, January 5 by hosting Chippewa Falls McDonell and staying home Friday, January 8 for a big D-SC contest against Durand who is ranked eighth in Division 4 by the WisSports.net coaches poll.

New Auburn

Coach Noll was shuffling players in and out, more like a hockey coach, with five at a time switching places in the contest.

“I used two sets of teams because, although we want to win each game, the Elmwood/Plum City game the next night was a conference game and it was important to have fresh legs for that game. This game gave several players some needed varsity action and we almost pulled the win off,” Noll said.

The game was knotted up several times in the first half at 8-8, 10-10, 12-12 and 14-14 before Drew Gibson scored for Colfax off an inbound pass, Tanner Hoffman pulled down an offensive rebound and scored, Gibson then went coast-to-coast for another deuce and Caden Erickson hit from close range for a 22-16 halftime lead.

The Vikings continued to increase their lead and were up 28-16 but the Trojans kept hanging around and had a short run before Colfax scored from the paint to keep the lead at 11. Hoffman canned a trey for a 44-31 Colfax advantage with around eight minutes to go.

Tristan Lenz knocked down a short jumper, Elijah Entzminger drove the lane for a deuce and Max Knudson drained his first career triple and it appeared the Vikings were in control when they were ahead 51-35 with a little over three minutes to go.

But, New Auburn just wouldn’t give in and after forcing several Colfax turnovers and hitting several shots close to the basket, suddenly is was 52-52. Ethan Lotts was fouled by Colfax and put the go-ahead points up on a pair of free throws, but the Vikings had a final chance to tie or win. They lost the ball under their basket but Gibson was fouled as the buzzer sounded. Standing alone in a quiet gym, Gibson hit the first freebie but the second one bounced off to end the game.

“With so many kids playing for us, it was hard for them to be consistent, especially with our ball handling,” Noll said. “We probably should have had the win but we just fell apart at the end,” he added.

Gibson led the Vikings with 16 points, Erickson added nine and Entzminger, a freshman, contributed eight.

Elmwood/Plum City

As all area teams have had to learn this season, resiliency is a key to being successful. After giving away a big lead in the previous game, the Vikings came out just like coach Noll expected, with a lot of energy and aggressiveness on both ends of the court.

Erickson, after a few low scoring games, set the tone early with a three ball on the Viking’s first possession. He added two more treys and after a short jumper by Noah Heidorn, Hunter Rebak forced a turnover off the Viking’s full court press. Erickson then drove the lane for a deuce and a minute or so later, Erickson, Gibson, and Erickson again drained three point shots for a 22-16 Colfax advantage.

The Wolves’ Luke Webb, probably the tallest player in the conference at 6’ 6”, helped his team get back to a point before Lenz scored on a put back. Gibson, hot from the outside, let another one fly for three more points and after an Erickson put back and a deuce by Heidorn, Colfax took a 31-23 lead into the intermission. Erickson finished with 19 points in the half.

“We could tell right from the start our guys were ready to play,” Noll said. “They had a few turnovers in the half but they reacted positively and kept going to the basket.”

Just 15 seconds into the second half, Gibson let another long one fly for a 34-23 advantage. Lenz scored from close range and after E/PC knocked down a couple of free tosses, Heidorn scored on a jumper from the paint. Gibson upped the Viking’s lead with a drive in the lane and after Webb knocked down a trey for the Wolves, Gibson just kept moving and scored from underneath again, making it 42-30 for Colfax.

Gibson couldn’t be stopped at this point as he nailed another triple, then scored three more times from close up, the second and third times off offensive rebounds and it was 53-40 with just over five minutes to go. But much like New Auburn, the Wolves found a second wind and went on an eight-point run with Webb scoring five of those points, to cut the Colfax lead to five with 3:31 left.

This time, however, the Vikings kept their poise and Heidorn drove through the paint for a bucket. After they forced a turnover on E/PC, Lenz hit one-of-two free throws and Webb was called for a charge which was his fifth foul and the team’s seventh with 2:13 to go. Colfax finished off the game when Heidorn made two-of-four freebies, Erickson went end-to-end for a layup and Lenz dropped in a free throw.

“We started to see some consistency with our offense tonight,” Noll said. “Our press forced some turnovers and we were able to score points off them, too. We just looked like a team ready to play and I am proud how they took control of things late in the game,” he added.

Erickson and Gibson combined for 45 of the Colfax points with Erickson scoring 23 and Gibson 22. They also combined for all nine of the team’s triples with five and four respectively. Heidorn added ten points, Lenz six and Nate Hydukovich two. Webb led the Wolves with 15 points.