Friday night both the Plains Horsemen and Trotters teams journeyed to Charlo in Lake County where the boys lost another competitive game in a very competitive conference.

Meanwhile, the Trotters, who have seen solid improvement in the past few weeks, had the misfortune of running into the unbeaten Charlo Lady Vikings, who have plowed through the conference like a raiding party as they chase after a regular season 14C title.

The Plains boys jumped off to a great start against the host Vikings, running up a 16-7 first quarter advantage. They were playing without their power forward, 6-0 senior Tucker Foster, who was injured last week.

Charlo battled back in the second quarter but could only trim three points off the initial lead as the two teams entered the halftime intermission with the Horsemen in front 28-22.

Behind a balanced scoring attack, the Vikings won the third quarter dual, then turned on the jets and ran away from Plains in the final quarter, outscoring the Horsemen 22-9.

Nathan Feliksa had another good night for the Horsemen, tossing in 13 points to lead all scorers. He was joined in double-figure scoring by senior guard Gavin Regalado who tallied 11 for the game.

And while Charlo had just one player score in double figures, Steson Reum with 11, four other Vikings scored either eight or nine points for the Vikings.

The loss dropped Plains to 1-6 overall and 1-5 in 14C games. Charlo improved to 4-3 on the year and 2-3 in conference play.

The girls game was decided in the early going as the taller, quicker, senior-dominated Lady Vikings continued their crusade to return to the upper levels of the Montana C basketball playoffs.

The Lady Vikes roared off to a 16-3 first quarter lead, then took complete command of the game in the second eight minutes of play. By halftime Charlo had built a 31-7 lead.

As has been the case a good part of the season, the Fryberger girls, Conner and Carlee proved to be an unstoppable duo for the Trotters, who faced a disciplined squad with a choking defense.

The Lady Vikings defense shut out Plains in the third quarter, out-pointing the visitors 17-0 to grab a 48-7 lead with eight minutes to play. Carlee Fryberger ended the night as the game’s leading scorer, while Conner Fryberger added 10 points to the cause.

The Trotters were led by six points each from Kimberly Curry and Kaylah Standeford.

With reserves getting a chance to get some varsity experience, the Trotters battled back to win the fourth quarter, 8-6. But the raid was over long before that.

The win boosted Charlo to an unblemished 6-0 record in conference play and an unscathed 7-0 seasonal mark.

Plains, which had picked up a pair of wins in the past few weeks, fell to 2-4 in Western 14C play, and 2-5 overall.

Next up for the Plains teams is a home encounter with Clark Fork (Superior/Alberton) this Friday night. The boys will face the 14C leading Mountain Cats, while the Trotters take on a second-place Lady Mountain Cats team.

Saturday night the Plains boys travel to Noxon to face the Red Devils.