Not many folks saw it coming.

Like a boxer caught off balance in the first round of a title fight and suddenly staggering around on shaky feet, Charlo’s Lady Vikings basketball team was in trouble, albeit temporarily.

After falling behind by an uncharacteristically large margin in the first quarter, the Vikes shook off the cobwebs and rallied for a 52-42 victory over a scrappy St. Regis girls team and kept their playoff dreams afloat during a challenge game for the District 14C’s second spot in this weekend’s Divisional tourney in Butte.

After a spirited but unsuccessful effort against the conference’s number-one seeded Superior Lady Bobcats Saturday night in the 14C District final, the Vikes appeared to be in a frustrated state as they tipped off against the Lady Tigers and a full house at Thompson Falls High School’s neutral court.

St. Regis utilized its strength under the basket to control the backboards and dart out to a 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter in Monday’s loser-go-home battle.

Charlo regrouped in the second quarter, employing a devastating defense that wreaked havoc on the Lady Tigers, particularly their ability to inbound the ball.

By halftime the Lady Vikings, led by senior guard Hayleigh Smith’s aggressive leadership, punched back and trimmed five points off the St. Regis lead, trailing 23-19 at the half.

Smith was the spearhead for the Vikes spirited defense and was also a key to igniting their offense after the black eye of a start in the first eight minutes of play. She wound up as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, the vast majority of them in the fourth quarter when Charlo caught and whizzed past the stunned St. Regis team.

Behind by a 34-31 count entering the final quarter of play, Charlo’s smothering defense disrupted the Lady Tigers’ ability to throw the ball in bounds, creating numerous turnovers that led to timely buckets. They outscored St. Regis 21-8 over the final eight minutes to secure the victory and punch their ticket for beautiful downtown Butte and the Divisional round this weekend.

Charlo’s first opponent will be tall and talented Twin Bridges in what should be a good game Thursday at 12:30 in the Maroon Center.

St. Regis, meanwhile, finished the season as the 14C’s third place team in what was the final game for their standout senior Macy Hill, who led the Lady Tigers with 17 points to wrap up an amazing career at the Mineral County school. Just a short time ago, Hill went over the 1,000-point career mark.

The win boosted Charlo to 16-6 on the season, while St. Regis closed out it’s 2022-23 campaign with a 14-9 mark.

The Lady Vikes appearance in the challenge game was due to a 44-37 loss in the 14C title game Saturday night in Polson.

Conference regular season champion Superior built an early lead in that game, then held off a furious Charlo fourth quarter rally to emerge from Polson as champions and holders of the number-one seed from the 14C in last weekend’s Divisional tournament.

Superior, which beat the Lady Vikings twice during the regular season, made it a three-game sweep as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead at the end of one quarter of play.

Neither team could get their offense going in the second quarter of what was a lively defensive clash. Superior managed to eke out an 18-14 lead at the half.

The Lady Bobcats, who will take on Lone Peak in their first-round game in Butte Thursday night at 6:30, used the play of their talented senior trio to stretch their lead to 32-20 after three quarters of play. Key baskets and rapid pace defense from seniors Payton Milender, Isabella Pereira and Darby Haskins were largely responsible for the breathing room the Cats created.

It would be of great value in the fourth quarter as the Lady Vikings fought back and trimmed five points from the lead, but it was not enough to overcome the 12-point third quarter deficit.

Haskins led Superior with 16 points, while Pereira added 10 and Milender, who was a key factor in the Lady Cats rebounding efforts, chipped in nine points.

Charlo’s 5’8” sophomore Seeley McDonald had 19 points to lead all scorers.

The Lady Vikings earned their trip to the championship game in Polson with a pair of lopsided wins. Charlo opened tournament play Thursday afternoon with a 57-7 win over a game, but outgunned Alberton team, followed by a 49-24 win against Noxon Friday night.

The Lady Vikings’ opener against Alberton was a non-contest from the start, as they blew out to a 25-0 first quarter lead against the winless Lady Panthers, who played most of the tournament with five players in uniform.

McDonald had 18 points and Sheadon Kain tossed in 12 for Charlo, while Kim Turner topped Alberton with seven points.

Against Noxon’s Lady Devils, Charlo opened a 24-10 halftime lead and never trailed as they coasted to the comfortable win. McDonald poured in 18 points, mostly from underneath the basket, and Smith added 10 points.

Charlo will face a tall challenge in their opener versus Twin Bridges’ Lady Falcons, who have a line-up with four players who are 5’10” or taller, including 6’ junior post Kyle Pancost.

The winner of that game will face the winner of the Seeley-Swan versus Ennis game in Friday’s semi-final round.