Colfax boys open regional with win over Shell Lake, lose to top seed Clear Lake

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

In what would have appeared to be an even match, the number 8 seed Colfax Vikings hosted the number 9 seed Shell Lake Lakers in a first-round, WIAA Division 4 regional basketball game  March 4.

After a slow start for the Vikings, they used their size and speed to earn a 68-48 win over the Lakers.

In the semifinal game three days later at Clear Lake against the number 1 seed Warriors, a fast start didn’t hold up as the Vikings ended their season with a 51-40 loss and a 11-13 record.

Shell Lake

The Lakers were 12-11 overall and had finished 9-9 in the Lakeland West Conference, led by Conner Schrankel with a 15 point average per game. But, the Vikings had a couple of very tall players along with several sharpshooters and a hustling point guard that ended up being way too much for the Lakers to handle.

It wasn’t a very good start for the Vikings since in the first two and a half minutes of the contest  the Lakers used an extremely effective trapping press to force them into five turnovers which allowed them to pull out to an 8-0 lead.

Colfax coach Nick Heit called a quick timeout and after the Lakers knocked the ball out of bounds on the Colfax end, Theo Hovde passed the ball out to 6’ 5” Russell Polkoski who put a big slam dunk down to get his team on the board.

Aiden Fischer scored on a fast break layup and Orion Nichols added five points on a deuce and a triple to get within a point, down 10-9.

A Laker three-point shot kept them ahead but Nichols zipped a pass to Polkoski for another big slam, and a few seconds later Polkoski found 6’ 6” Logan Swartz under the hoop and it was 13-13. Fischer’s free throw and a Nichols bucket gave them a 16-13 lead, but a triple from Shell Lake knotted it at 16-16.

Polkoski was a brick wall all night as he blocked numerous shots, and after one of those blocks, Fischer took the ball and fired in a triple to put the Vikings up 19-16 and they did not trail the rest of the game.

Trey Larson scored on a fast break layup, Swartz hit from close range, Nichols added another bucket and drilled a three pointer and when Fischer followed with his own corner triple, it was 32-22 for Colfax. A final shot by Nichols with four seconds left in the half gave the Vikings a 34-24 advantage at the break.

The pace was fast and furious as the second half started which was just fine for the Vikings.

Nichols started it with a deuce and after a Laker turnover, Fischer snared a pass that came from the opposite side of the court and canned a three pointer. Fischer went on a tear as he drilled two more of those long balls and Polkoski followed with one of his own to make it 50-30.

After a Fischer free toss, Polkoski and Swartz both knocked down two free throws and Nichols added another one of his streaks with five points on back-to-back shots in the lane and a free throw to make it 60-40.

Shell Lake put a little run of six points together, but Fischer made sure that didn’t do any harm as he finished things off with the final eight points on three buckets and a pair of free throws to finish with a game-high 29 points.

Fischer’s points came by way of five triples, five deuces and 4-of-6 free throws. Nichols added 21 points with most of his damage from the paint on seven buckets while Polkoski finished with nine points and Swartz seven. The Vikings were 10-for-19 at the foul line with eight triples in the contest. Polkoski, Swartz and Nichols controlled the boards with 17 blocks and a ton of rebounds, and point guard Hovde, who was doubled teamed and harassed constantly, managed to get the team out of trouble with his ball handling skills.

Schrankel scored 18 points for the Lakers who were 9-for-10 at the charity stripe with a trio of triples.

Clear Lake

The Warriors had a first-round bye and held a 22-2 record after winning the Lakeland West Conference at 17-1. Their two losses came by way of Chippewa Falls McDonell and Turtle Lake while they defeated Colfax 60-59 back in December.

Colfax started this game much better than the Shell Lake game, pulling out to an 8-1 lead. Hovde, who was scoreless in the previous game, started it off with a bucket under the hoop while Charlie Charbonneau, who was also scoreless against Shell Lake, drilled back-to-back triples. Nichols and Fischer both hit a single free throw and after Nichols added a close range shot it was 12-4.

The Warriors began to pick away with a deuce and a three ball, but Fischer dropped in another shot from the paint to keep Colfax up 14-9.

Another five points including a deuce and a triple by the Warriors tied it up at 14-14, but after his first miss on a three-point attempt, Larson made the second one count with 1:35 left in the half.

Clear Lake had the ball in their possession, but the Viking defense wouldn’t let them anywhere close to a decent shot attempt and they didn’t get a shot off as the half ended with a 17-14 Vikings’ lead.

“Clear Lake guarded three of our guys and put the other two in a zone,” according to coach Heit. “They were physical and made it hard for us to get to the rim.”

There is always a reason a team is seeded number 1 and the Warriors began to show it as they drained a three pointer just seconds into the second half.

After the Vikings went cold offensively, missing on four consecutive shot attempts, Clear Lake canned another triple and scored from close range for a 22-17 lead. Polkoski hit a free throw for his first point of the contest, but yet another Warrior triple made it 25-18 before Hovde scored in the paint.

Clear Lake scored twice on shots around the lane and knocked down a couple of free tosses for a 31-20 advantage. The Vikings closed the gap with buckets from Polkoski and Nichols while Fisher swiped the ball and scurried end-to-end for a layup to cut the Warriors lead to 31-26.

Clear Lake coach Jason Sargent called a quick time out for a discussion with his team and apparently they listened well. Although Polkoski and Swartz pretty much guarded the paint close to the hoop, the Warriors continued to drive around them and scored three more times and added a triple to jump ahead 40-26.

The Vikings were on another cold streak offensively, missing several bunnies under the hoop, misfiring on a three pointer, getting called for a charge, turning the ball over twice and missing two more shots before Nichols found his shooting eye by draining two triples. With 2:00 left, Hovde hit a free throw, Fischer drilled a three ball and Swartz came up with a big put back to get the Vikings closer, down 44-38.

Hovde fouled out with just over a minute left for the Viking’s 10th foul and Clear Lake hit two free tosses.

Fischer drove the lane for a bucket and with 57.9 seconds left on the clock, Colfax was down 46-40 with still a chance to pull out a win.

However, two turnovers under their own basket along with four free throws by Caleb Arcand of Clear Lake ended the contest.

Nichols led the Vikings with 11 points while Fischer added 10 to finish his career with 1,052. Charbonneau tallied six points, Hovde added five in his final game, Polkoski three, Larson three and Swartz ended his career with two. Colfax knocked down six triples and were 4-of-8 in free throws. Caleb Arcand scored 17 points to lead the Warriors who drained seven triples and were 10-for-12 at the foul line.

“It was tough to get the ball to the paint all game,” stated coach Heit.

“The double was coming as soon as we got the ball down low. I credit Clear Lake for their defense and making it hard for us to score. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in the hoop. I thought Logan and Russell created a lot of issues for them in the first half, but they switched to their triangle swing action in the second half which made it hard for us to guard. Not being able to help out on their shooters made it difficult,” he added.

When asked for final thoughts on his first season as a head coach, Heit commented. “It was a fun season and it was sad to see it finish. I’m proud of our guys and how hard they worked. With a tough non-conference schedule and a tough league, a fourth place finish in our conference after being a pre-season pick for sixth place was great. We had a few nice upsets throughout the season. Our seniors will be missed,” he concluded.

Colfax will say goodbye to five seniors including Theo Hovde, Aiden Fischer, Mihretu Emch, Nate Edwards and Logan Swartz.