COLUMBIA FALLS — Bigfork was scoreless for the first five minutes of the District 7B championship game against Thompson Falls on Saturday night.

Once the defending champs found their rhythm, however, there was no stopping them. The Vikings shot 60 percent the rest of the half and missed just two shots in the fourth quarter to run away with a 60-43 victory and claim the league’s regular season and tournament titles.

Bigfork (19-1) missed its first eight shots to fall behind 8-0 to the Blue Hawks (14-6). Thomspon Falls’ Trais Hoisington, a 6-foot-5 center, controlled the paint early on, scoring the game’s first four points.

It wasn’t until Bigfork changed its defense, pressuring the Blue Hawk guards as they crossed half court, that the tide started to turn.

“That Hoisington kid is good,” Bigfork coach Sam Tudor said. “He gave us all we could handle. The half-court trap gave them trouble. The idea was we had to keep the ball out of his hands down low.”

Isaac Martel got the Vikings on the board with a 3-pointer with 3 minutes left in the first quarter and shortly after Ryder Trent sank another 3 to tie the contest at 8-8. Trent hit a 3 at the buzzer to give Bigfork its first lead, bringing with it the confidence that was missing in the first five minutes.

“When we went down 8-0, you’re sitting there as a coach wondering, ‘When are we going to start to come alive?’,” Tudor said.

“It was Ryder that got us sparked. That got the ball rolling.”

The Vikings held Thompson Falls scoreless for the final 3:51 of the half, prompting an 8-0 run to close the second quarter with a 24-18 lead.

Bigfork fought through foul trouble in the third — starters Josh Sandry and Jonathan Landon each played with three fouls — and expanded its lead to double digits. Martel hit two 3s in the quarter and scored 10 of his 16 points to counter a strong effort from Hoisington, who had 8 of his game-high 19 in the frame.

The Vikings shot 78 percent and made 7 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to close out the contest, stretching their lead to 19 points before Thompson Falls was able to sink a shot in the closing seconds.

Adam Jordt scored 15 points for Bigfork and Landon had 10 points and six rebounds.

Bigfork will open the Western B division against Ronan at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday at Flathead High School. The Chiefs lost to Deer Lodge 52-45 in the District 6B consolation final on Saturday.

“That’s a good team, T-Falls is tough,” Tudor said. “I’m glad we got to play them before divisionals. That’s going to be a good tournament.”

Missoula Loyola (17-3) won the 6B tournament, topping Florence (13-7) 54-52 in the championship game.

Thompson Falls 10 8 13 12 — 43

Bigfork 11 13 19 17 — 60

THOMPSON FALLS — Mack Holt 2, Trais Hoisington 19, Tanner Laws 6, Dylan Vaught 8, Joe Frields 5, Dalton Hooten 1, Tyler Riffle 2. Totals 16 8-13 43.

BIGFORK — Adam Jordt 15, Isaac Martel 16, Tyler Piazzola 6, Jonathan Landon 10, Josh Sandry 6, Ryder Trent 7. Totals 20 14-24 60.

Consolation Final

Eureka 39, Plains 32

COLUMBIA FALLS — Chase Bohne scored 16 points and the Lions hit 8 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from Plains (8-13) and claim third place in District 7B.

Trey Bohne hit a pair of 3-pointers for Eureka (9-11) to spark the big fourth quarter, which saw the Lions break a 25-25 tie after three quarters. Eureka struggled for the prior 16 minutes, scoring just two field goals in the stretch, leaning on Chase Bohne to score all 11 of its points.

Ryan Ovitt had 13 points to lead Plains.

Eureka will open the Western B tournament against Florence.

Plains 7 10 8 7 — 32

Eureka 14 8 3 14 — 39

PLAINS — Ryan Ovitt 13, Trent Brouilette 4, Alec Cole 2, Kyle Revier 5, Aaron Baker 2, Branson Krebs 2, Brenen Abromeit 4. Totals 13 5-6 32.

EUREKA — Brandon Conard 2, Trey Bohne 8, RJ Glover 4, Michael Peterson 3, Chase Bohne 16, Braden Thier 6. Totals 10 15-21 39.