PABLO - SKC picked up two wins over in-state Montana-Western's

JV squad thanks to some impressive performances by players up and

down the lineup.

PABLO - SKC picked up two wins over in-state Montana-Western's JV squad thanks to some impressive performances by players up and down the lineup.

Against Montana-Western on Saturday, the Bison found themselves down 49-34 at halftime but weren't ready to turn things in.

"I told the team at halftime that we were going to press and we were going to win this half," SKC head coach Zachary Conko-Camel said. "Then we ended up making the difference up in the first 10 minutes, then it was basket for basket the rest of the way."

With time waning in the second half, SKC had the 81-80 lead but Montana-Western had an oppourtunity to hit the game-winning shot.

Camel implemented a zone defense with one player, DJ Kemmer focused on the team's ballhandler that wanted to take the last shot. Kemmer distrupted the offense, causing them to get the ball to one of Montana-Western's post players who was subseqeuntly blocked by DJ Fish and the the Bison held on for the victory.

"DJ must have been 11 feet up in the air on that block," Camel said with a chuckle. "That was a big block."

Fish scored 25 points for the Bison including 20 second-half points.

Camel said that Sonny Eppinette, who finished with a team-high 26 points, and Fish have really stepped up their leadership of team and they certainly showed it in their first game against Montana-Western.

In what he called a "final-like test" his team passed with flying colors, and the dramatic win may have carried over momentun-wise into Sunday's game.

"Basketball is an emotional rollercoaster and that's a big hit [to lose by one]" Camel said.

SKC came out in the second game in-control, led 37-24 at halftime and never looked back in the second half en route to a 77-59 victory on Sunday.

Eppinette led the team again with 22 points and has averaged over 25 points in the past five games for SKC.

"He's been on and everything is just snapping," Camel said of Eppinette. "And that's something he doesn't want to mess with so he's going to continue to work on it over the [Christmas] break."

Fish scored 20 and Trent Ashley added 12 in the game.

SKC now goes into the break looking to get some rest and heal up before making a run for their fourth-straight AIHEC National Championship.

"This has been a special team, we've battled against the strong technical schools with the big guys and athletic guards," Camel said. "I've seen improvement. Even though we've been hit with the injury bug, we're getting a lot of guys starter minutes."

Camel said that at the end of the season he's going to have 10-12 guys with a lot of experience and that's going to pay off in the crunch time of the AIHEC tournament.

"It's only made us better and I think we're ahead of where we were last year," he said.

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, SKC traveled to play Salt Lake Community College and despite three players in double-digits, the Bison fell 113-65.

Eppinette led the team with 19 points and DJ Fish had 16. Former Ronan Chief Kevin Wroblewski added 14 points for the Bison in the game.

SKC will begin playing in 2012 on Jan. 13 against the Univeristy of Great Falls JV.

SKC @ SLCC

SKC - 33 - 32 - 65

SLCC - 63 - 50 - 113

Bison scoring - Isaac Wal 2, Kyle Hendrickx 1, Sonny Eppinette 19, Kevin Wroblewski 14, Trent Ashley 2, DJ Kemmer 8, DJ Fish 16, Logan Lee 3

M-W @ SKC

M-W - 49 - 31 - 80

SKC - 34 - 47 - 81

Bison scoring - Pete Aragon 2, Kyle Hendrickx 7, Sonny Eppinette 26, Kevin Wroblewski 4, Trent Ashley 4, DJ Kemmer 6, DJ Fish 25, Josh Finn 2, Logan Lee 5

M-W @ SKC

M-W - 24 - 35 - 59

SKC - 37 - 40 - 77

Bison scoring - Pete Aragon 3, Kyle Hendrickx 2, Sonny Eppinette 22, Kevin Wroblewski 2, Trent Ashley 12, Josh Finn 3, DJ Kemmer 10, Logan Lee 3, DJ Fish 20