Vikings boys home woes

PALOUSE - The Garfield-Palouse Vikings earned the hard-fought victory over their Whitman County rival St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles, then lost a nail-biter to the Pomeroy Pirates to bring their record to 3-3 before the holiday break.

The first game against the Eagles was played on Friday, Dec. 15, and took place in LaCrosse.

The Vikings would out score the Eagles in three-of-four quarters to secure the 54-36 victory.

Garfield-Palouse put up 15 points in the first quarter while the Eagles managed just six. The Vikings were hot early, and took their nine-point lead into the second quarter, where the Vikings scored 11 points to reach 26 for the half. They held the Vikings to 11, leading by 12 at the half.

The third quarter was a defensive master class from the Vikings team. The Eagles managed to score two points in the quarter, and the Vikings put up 18, their highest scoring quarter in the game.

At the start of the fourth quarter the Vikings held a 47-19 lead. The quarter would end with the Vikings out scored by 10, but still win the game by 18.

Brendan Snekvik led the way for the Vikings with 13 points. He made three three-point shots in the game.

Bryce Pfaff and Landen Orr both had eight points for Garfield-Palouse.

The next game for the Vikings was played on Saturday, Dec. 16, against the Pomeroy Pirates.

The Vikings were in the game for three quarters, but a sloppy offensive second quarter led to the 45-39 loss.

The first quarter was a 14-10 advantage for the Pirates.

Heading into the second the Vikings were trailing by four, but scored just five points in the second quarter. Garfield-Palouse would trail 24-15 at halftime.

The nine-point lead for the Pirates was too steep a hill for the Vikings to climb in the game. Garfield-Palouse out scored the Pirates 24-21 in the second half, but fell by six.

Lane Collier had nine points to lead the Vikings. Orr had eight again, and Snekvik scored just eight.

The next game for the Vikings will be played on Wednesday, Dec. 27. The game will be in Colton, and start at 3:30 p.m.