The boys basketball team lost to the Churchill Bulldogs 49-30 on Jan. 14, extending their losing streak to seven games and dropping the team’s record to 4-8.

Both teams struggled to make a basket early in the game.  The Vikings gave up two early offensive rebounds, but were able to contain the Bulldog offense and prevent them from converting the Viking turnovers into points.  However, after three minutes of scoreless play, the Bulldogs made a two-point shot that gave them their first lead.  Center Ian Ross countered the Bulldogs with a two-point shot of his own.  The teams traded shots until power forward Nick Yockey made a two-point lay-up and was fouled.  Yockey made his foul shot and put the Vikings up 9-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Guard Bryan Joel started out the second half with a circus shot that built a 5 point Viking lead.  Small forward Daniel Voigt provided stellar defense with a blocked shot and two steals, one of which led a fast break basket by guard James Dionne.  However, the Vikings began to turn the ball over while the Bulldogs slowly put together an 8-0 run that gave them a 16-15 lead heading into halftime.

The Vikings continued to turn the ball over and miss shots, and gave up six easy points to the Bulldogs to start the second half.  Although the Vikings countered with a 6-0 run of their own, which included a three-point play by Ross and a three-point shot by Voigt, the Bulldogs had another 6-0 run that put them up by 9 late in the third quarter.  Despite ball movement problems, the Vikings got another three-pointer out of Voigt that cut the deficit to six points entering the final quarter of play.

The Bulldogs continued to knock down shots and put together a 10-2 run to start the fourth quarter.  The Viking offense struggled and could only generate six points in the quarter, while the Bulldogs put up 19 points.

The 30 points that the Vikings scored was a season-low.  Voigt provided a third of the team’s points with 10, while Yockey and Ross had seven each.

The Vikings will look to end their seven game losing streak when they travel to Richard Montgomery and play the Rockets on Jan. 21.  The Vikings defeated the Rockets, 52-49, at home earlier in the season.  The game on Dec. 17 was the Viking’s last victory and their only division win.