RONAN — The Charlo Vikings beat the Noxon Red Devils 51-18 on Friday night to move onto the District 14C girls basketball championship. However, that wasn't the biggest win of the night as Charlo's head coach Bret Thompson earned his 600th career victory.
"As far as the journey, I've been pretty lucky being here in Charlo, they've been really good to me," said Thompson. "I've had great girls to work with, and without them wanting to work with me I definitely wouldn't be here at this point."
Thompson has been the head coach of the Vikings since the 1986-87 season and led the Vikings to their only state title in 2003.
"I'm telling you, I've had great administrators who stuck with me. There were times that the community probably thought maybe they needed a change and luckily for me I had the right people on my side all the time and so here I am, still in Charlo," Thompson said.
On Saturday, the Vikings took the district title with a 48-32 win over Hot Springs. Each team is special in Thompson's eyes but obviously the team he won his 600th game will be one he remembers for a long time.
"They work hard, they like hanging out with the old guy, that's a big part of it. They have that right idea of working hard and still can smile at the end of practices," he said.
