Siuslaw boys basketball coach Will Biggs likes what he's seeing in his young Vikings.

"They look better on the floor, they carry themselves better, they look more confident," Biggs said.

"I know it hasn't shown on the scoreboard, yet. But I'm really happy with their effort."

The Vikings dropped to 1-19 Friday night, including 1-7 in the Far West League, with a 41-32 loss to Brookings-Harbor at Glen Butler Court.

Next up for Siuslaw is Senior Night on Tuesday, when Douglas comes to visit, and a season finale next Friday at North Bend.

"It's not easy with our record to not get down," Biggs said. "These guys haven't gotten down on each other, they haven't gotten down on me.

"So there's been a lot of positives aside from the record."

Friday's loss played out like much of the season, one filled with great effort, noteworthy defense, and a bucketload of shots that refused to fall.

"Our shot selection is not from not wanting to win, it's from lack of experience," Biggs said. "We talk about it. Instead of two or three passes and shooting, maybe we need five or six.

"If they (the opponents) don't have the ball, they can't score."

Neither team was really filling the nets Friday, the two teams scuffling to a 22-22 standoff through three quarters.

The Bruins rattled off the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, with Brig Schofield canning a pair of 3-pointers, and then held off the Vikings from the free-throw line.

Brookings-Harbor made only 15-of-29 free throws for the game, but nailed 10 of 17 in the fourth. Brandon Curtis, who finished with a game-high 19 points, hit 10-of-20 free throws for the game, 7-of-10 in the fourth quarter

"That fourth quarter, they kind of put seven points on us pretty quick," Briggs said. "We don't score in bunches, so that hurts us."

The Vikings slashed the lead to five at 33-28 with 3:56 to play on a pair of free throws by senior point guard Preston Mitchell, but Mitchell fouled out seconds later attempting a steal in the backcourt.

The Bruins then scored their final eight points (8-of-12) from the free-throw line to preserve the win.

"We just struggle scoring, we've struggled all season long," Biggs said. "It's been frustrating on that side.

"We do such a great job on one end, then come down, and not make great decisions. If we miss a good shot, it seems to take a lot out of us."

But he's still liking what he sees, especially lately, from the players who will provide the foundation for the future.

"Trent (Reavis) is growing not only athletically, but composurewise. He's more focused on his teammates, on what he needs to do on the floor.

"Jared (Brandt) has been really good on the boards. I'd like to see him get confidence to shoot the ball.

"Every so often Jakob Hickson does something, and you say, 'Wow, there's something there.' He just needs to get more mature, fill out more."

One win, 19 losses, a lot of growing.

"I love these kids, and we're in this together," Biggs said. "That part of it has been really, really good."

NOTES

Senior Kenneth Thrall has been named the boys winner of the annual Spirit of a Champion Award, presented by the Oregon Athletic Directors Association and sponsored by Bi-Mart.

The honor is "For demonstrating good sportsmanship, outstanding effort, great integrity, and being a terrific ambassador for your school and community this year."

Junior Claire Waggoner was the girls' recipient for Siuslaw. ...

Tuesday is Senior Night for the Vikings, who have four to be honored: Scott Gordon, Preston Mitchell, Reese Siegel and Kenneth Thrall. ...

Biggs hosted the team at his house for the Super Bowl.

"We had a lot of Denver Broncos fans in the house," he said. "It was great to see the kids in a different environment." ...

Marshfield clinched the Far West League title Friday with a 50-45 victory over archrival North Bend. The Pirates, 8-0 in league and 20-2 overall, are ranked No. 3 in Class 4A. ...

Douglas surprised second-place South Umpqua at Tri City, 58-50.

SCORING    

BROOKINGS-HARBOR    6     8     8     19     —     41
SIUSLAW                         10     6     6     10     —     32

BROOKINGS-HARBOR — Brandon Curtis 4 10-20 19, Brig Schofield 3 0-0 8, Buell Gonzales III 2 2-5 7, Russ Nickels 2 0-0 4, Shaan Amin 0 3-4 3. Totals 11 15-29 41.
SIUSLAW — Jared Brandt 3 0-0 7, Trent Reavis 2 3-7 7, Preston Mitchell 2 2-2 6, Reese Siegel 1 2-4 4, Kenneth Thrall 1 0-0 3, Brogan Cornish 1 0-0 3, Jakob Hickson 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 7-13 32.
3-point goals — Brookings-Harbor 4 (Schofield 2, Curtis 1, Gonzales 1). Siuslaw 3 (Thrall 1, Brandt 1, Cornish 1).