Viking boys end basketball season with overtime loss to Shell Lake
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
SHELL LAKE — As a number 10 seed in the WIAA Division 4 basketball sectional, the Colfax boys traveled to Shell Lake February 27 to take on the number seven seeded Shell Lake Lakers. The Vikings were 9-15 overall while the Lakers, who play in the Lakeland West Conference, entered their gym with an overall record of 14-10.
The first round regional contest was certainly an even match as neither team led by more than four points for most of it, at least in regulation. But after having to move into overtime, the Vikings ran out of gas and eventually lost 68-60. Colfax ended their season with a 9-16 record.
Colfax fell behind 4-0 but Aiden Fischer drilled a triple and Eli Ralph scored from close range to pull ahead. The game was knotted several times, at 7-7, 9-9 and 11-11 but the Vikings moved back ahead by five points (the only time of the game), at 21-16. Shell Lake came back to tie it at 21-21 before Blake Johnson put the Vikings back on top with a shot from behind the arc. Those points were countered however, on a Laker bucket and free toss to make it 24-24.
Viking Orion Nichols knotted the game at 28-28 with a close range shot and Elijah Entzminger canned a pair of free throws to put the score at 30-30. A Laker triple put them back up and the Vikings had a chance to score with 20 seconds left before the half but both of their shots were off the mark and they were down 33-30 at the intermission.
“Both teams were pressing on defense,” head coach Mark Noll said. “Shell Lake played a different zone defense against us. It was a 1-1-3 that morphed into a 1-3-1 and 2-3 and they were trapping a lot,” he added.
Colfax came out of the gates quickly to start the second half with three buckets for a 36-33 lead. Fischer knocked down a free toss but the score was once again knotted, at 37-37. The Vikings pulled back ahead 42-39 with help from a Ralph free throw and an Entzminger jumper, and they upped their lead to four on a Mason Yarrington triple at 45-41.
With around eight minutes left in the game, the score was tied once again at 45-45 and the Lakers regained the lead at 49-45 and 51-47. Johnson drained a three pointer and Ralph dropped in two free tosses for a 52-51 Viking advantage but after the Vikings committed their tenth team foul, the Lakers used a some free throws to pull back ahead 56-52 with 2:04 on the clock. A Colfax shot in the paint and a Swartz free throw brought them to within a point before a Laker free toss gave them a two-point lead with 26 seconds to go.
Coach Noll called a time out and the play he called was run to perfection as Johnson took the inbounds pass and dribbled all the way down the middle of the court pretty much untouched for a game tying layup.
The Viking defense held by not allowing a Laker shot, but with the ball in their possession and five seconds left, they couldn’t get a shot off either, forcing the overtime.
Colfax misfired on three long range shots and a put back while the Lakers pounded the paint for six points on three buckets for a 63-57 advantage and the Vikings never recovered. An Entzminger free toss and a late deuce by Grant Palewicz were the only overtime points they scored and their season ended with the eight-point loss.
Fischer led the Vikings with 14 points in the game which included three triples in the first half, but was held to a single point in the second half. All four seniors contributed offensively with Entzminger scoring 13 points, Johnson 10, Ralph nine and Yarrington five. Ralph snared 11 rebounds to lead in that department while Swartz grabbed seven, Yarrington and Fischer five each and Entzminger four. Colfax made just six of 25 three-point attempts and were 10-for-17 from the charity stripe.
Lucas Jacobson was high man for the Lakers with 22 points as the Lakers were 22-for-31 at the foul line with just a pair of triples for the game. Their leading scorer, Conner Schrankel, who averaged just 13 points a game, added 21 points which included 9-for-11 free throws.
“ I love our four seniors,” coach Noll exclaimed. “These are outstanding young men who are going to be super successful in life. They all have a great work ethic and are super teammates,” he concluded.
Entzminger finished his high school days as the fourth leading scorer in Colfax history with 1,103 points. Only Ken Obermueller (1,319), Larry Knudson (1,308) and Justin Wittrock (1,180) have more points.