Well, a surprise to everybody except the Pirates themselves, who knew all along they were better than the preseason polls that forecast them fourth in the league behind Drummond, Alberton and Arlee.
“I wasn't really surprised and I know the boys weren't surprised ...,” said first-year coach Jay Jagelski, who came to Victor after assistant gigs at Carroll College and Missoula Sentinel. “We knew we had a decent team coming into the season. We've got seven seniors that are just really good kids and who all understand the game really well.”
With the other three starters back, Victor lost its season opener 45-37 to Salmon, Idaho, on Dec. 7 and has since won five in a row. That includes victories over Arlee and Alberton as well as fellow league foes Lincoln and Philipsburg.
The Pirates' seniors have been instrumental. Eric Taylor has stepped in to do the bulk of the scoring and gets defensive help from Eric Bissett.
“Eric Taylor is doing really well, he's averaging something like 15 or 16 points a game,” Jagelski said. “Then Eric Bissett is averaging about five steals. He's a phenomenal athlete. He's not going to score a lot of points but he's locked down every top player that we've played against on defense.”
Last weekend's 49-42 win over Alberton is the biggest victory to date, but Victor gets back-to-back tests in undefeated Class B Loyola and 13-C favorite Drummond after the season picks up again on Jan. 4.
“(Loyola) is going to be a tough game for us,” said Jagelski. “That's a top program that has already proven itself. They're going to come down to Victor and I know the boys will give them a good battle. We'll compete with them.”
Braves throw weight around
After seven duals in two days at Wyoming's Pat Weede Memorial wrestling meet last weekend, Kalispell Flathead emerged as the only undefeated team.
Afterward, coach Jeff Thompson said he had some questions to answer.
“A lot of teams are surprised by how solid we are at every single weight ...,” Thompson said to the Daily Interlake. “We just tell them it's in the water.”
Something's working.
The Braves have won three of the last four Montana Class AA state championships and this season they're 17-0 in duals. Headed into the Weede, they'd already won the Polson Invitational, the Mining City Duals and the Tri-State Tournament.
At Gillette, Flathead knocked off the host Camels, the five-time defending Wyoming state champs, and also got revenge with a win over defending Montana Class A champion Havre, which handed the Braves a dual loss last season.
Seven Flathead wrestlers went undefeated - Shawn Lau (112), Tanner Beaman (130), Brian Ham (135), Bryce Stacy (145), David Lau (160), Luke Fischer (171), Tyler Thomas (Hwt) and Ryan Thiel.
Shawn Lau, Ham, Stacy and Thomas made the all-tournament team. David Lau and Fischer were not eligible for the team after each moved up a weight class for one dual.
Flathead was also awarded the best sportsmanship award by the coaches at the tournament.
Happy holidays
A number of Class AA girls' and boys' basketball teams will return to unblemished records in January after closing out 2007 perfectly.
Missoula Sentinel - the top-ranked team in the Missoulian's prep power poll - finished '07 at 6-0 after strong play from Andy Garland and Mark Henkel carried it into the break.
Henkel's averaging nearly 27 points per game, including a 36-point performance against Great Falls High to open the season on Dec. 8 and 31 against Kalispell Glacier last Friday.
Garland's 23.5 average is second for the unbeaten Spartans. His best outing was 27 against Billings Senior on Dec. 20.
Billings West (4-0) also enjoys the holiday season undefeated. Helena Capital, looked to do the same, rolling to 4-0 before the Bruins dropped their last game before the break, 58-57 to Bozeman.
On the girls' side, all the teams out west have suffered a loss, while Great Falls Russell and Butte remain faultless.
The Bulldogs and Rustlers are both 4-0, but neither played a conference game before Christmas.
Chiefs ride flawless first
Ronan is 6-0 after holding off conference foe Whitefish on Saturday in a game that saw the Chiefs miss just one shot in the first quarter.
Nolan Harris hit four 3-pointers in that period and Moss Tanner added another as Ronan sprinted to a 25-14 lead.
The Chiefs' only misfire - on the last shot of the quarter - came with just six seconds left.
Tanner finished the game with 18 points and Harris with 17, but Ronan had to fight off the Bulldogs the rest of the way for a 69-66 win.
Very merry Mees
Brother and sister combo Jim and Jackie Mee did their best to make sure Libby's boys' and girls' basketball teams finished December on a high note.
Jim Mee scored 30 points and Jackie poured in 35 as both Loggers squads defeated Lincoln County rival Eureka.
Known as one of the best pure shooters in Class A, Jim Mee finished with a double-double to pace the Loggers to a 66-49 win over the Lions.
He grabbed 16 rebounds and scored 18 points in the first half as Libby led 32-24. The Loggers then put the game out of reach with a 23-point third period.
A 6-foot sophomore, Jackie Mee hit three of her four 3-pointers in the opening quarter and had 19 points by the break to lead the Loggers to a 65-44 victory.
She also finished 15-of-17 from the free-throw line.
Libby's boys' team improved to 3-2 with the win, while the girls are 2-3.
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