Vals stifle non-conference foes

By FAITH MOLDAN / Bigfork Eagle

Whether their opponent is conference or non-conference, the Bigfork Valkyries don't mind, as they continue to dominate on the court with a 15-1 overall record.

The Vals split their time last week, playing first on the road in Plains on Thursday and then hosting the Mission Lady Bulldogs Saturday. Bigfork defeated both teams and held them to less than 30 points apiece. Bigfork beat Plains 56-28 and Mission 53-29. Bigfork has kept three of its last four opponents under 30 points while scoring more than 50 points in all four games.

"We've had a nice defensive stretch," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "When you do that you have a pretty good chance to win."

Bigfork got better and better each quarter in the Vals' game versus the Lady Bulldogs. The Vals started slow and led by two points at the end of the first quarter. Both teams struggled to score in the second. The Vals' second basket came a little more than four minutes in after Alyssa Fierro put back a Jaylee Haveman miss with 6:45 on the clock. Kailey Fierro scored four of her 10 points in the first quarter.

"We were just out of sync," Hammond said. "There's not much you can do. You can try harder and just have to wait. It's easy to get frustrated."

Mission got no closer than four points to the Vals in the second. The Vals used their free-throw and 3-point shooting to keep the Lady Bulldogs at bay. A low number of turnovers also kept Bigfork in the lead. The Vals committed just 16 turnovers in the game. Bigfork's lead stretched to 11 by the end of the second quarter for a 25-14 halftime score.

The Vals out-scored Mission 12-7 in the third quarter to make the score 37-21 at the start of the fourth. The quarter started with Alyssa Fierro scoring three points the hard way. She finished the game with 12 points. Hattie Bowen dished the ball to Kailey Fierro after a steal. Bowen sank a 3-pointer about a minute later to make the score 45-23. She ended the night with eight points.

Bigfork spread its scoring around against Mission. Emily Hardman scored five points, Signa McLeod had two, Avery Vogel added nine and Haveman scored seven. Vogel led the Vals with five assists and Haveman had three steals.

Alyssa Fierro led the Vals with her 20 points against Plains. She also recorded eight rebounds and six blocks. A number of her teammates came close to scoring in double digits. Bowen and Haveman both scored eight points, while Roxy Thurman added seven and Kailey Fierro scored six. Kailey Fierro led the Vals with nine rebounds.

"We had a good rebounding night," Hammond said of the Vals 40 rebounds. "We had a great assist night too." Bigfork recorded 20 assists. Vogel dished out five assists while grabbing five steals.

Bigfork held a slim 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but maintained the lead with a 13-point second quarter while keeping Plains to four points. The Vals 25-13 at halftime.

Plains opened the second half by staying close to the Vals. Bigfork managed to out-score the Trotters 13-11 that quarter. The Trotters scored only four points again in the final quarter, as Bigfork went on to score 22 and clinch the non-conference victory.

The Vals have just two games, both against Northwest A conference opponents, remaining in the regular season. Bigfork hosts Whitefish today, Feb. 7. The freshman team begins play at 4:15 p.m.

"We need to go to work this week on it," Hammond said of the Vals matchup with Whitefish, which has only one loss. "They're a good team."

Bigfork 12 13 22 9 - 56

Plains 9 4 11 4 - 28

BIGFORK - Hattie Bowen 8, Roxy Thurman 7, Alyssa Fierro 20, Jaylee Haveman 8, Quindee Averill 3, Kailey Fierro 6, Signa McLeod 2, Arianna Schultz 2.

PLAINS - Heather Earhart 1, Ashton Vulles 2, Brittany Mount 6, Beth Catalanello 6, Emma Ehret 8, Lacey Hermiston 2, Cassie Ross 3.

St. Ignatius 6 8 7 8 — 29

Bigfork 8 17 12 16 — 53

ST. IGNATIUS — Kim Christiansen 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Cable 1 2-2 4, Kyla Mitchell 2 2-2 6, Rachel Jensen 1 0-2 2, Mattea Grant 6 2-6 15, Jordan Adams 0 0-2 0. Totals 11 6-14 29.

BIGFORK (15-1) — Emily Hardman 1 3-4 5, Hattie Bowen 3 0-0 8, Avery Vogel 4 0-1 9, Sigma McLeod 1 0-0 2, Alyssa Fierro 5 2-3 12, Kailey Fierro 4 2-3 10, Jaylee Haveman 3 1-2 7.

3-point goals — S.I. 1 (Grant), BF 3 (Bowen 2, Vogel). Team fouls — S.I. 16, BF 13. Fouled out — none.