Vals stun Wolfpack

The varsity Vals showed last week that whether their opponent is big or small they can rise to the challenge and leave with a “W.”

Bigfork beat Plains, a Class B school, last Thursday, 46-32, and upset Class AA school Glacier, 49-47, on Friday, both on the road.

While the Vals played well in both games, it was their performance in Kalispell that really stood out.

“I thought the girls played really hard,” said Bigfork head girls basketball coach Mark Hansen. “They were excited to play against a bigger school and they came out with lots of energy and that’s why they came away with the win.”

Bigfork was down 12-9 after the first quarter, but outscored Glacier 15-14 in the second. There were even fewer baskets in the third quarter for both teams, with Bigfork scoring just six points and Glacier getting 10.

Going into the fourth quarter Bigfork trailed Glacier 36-30. The Vals battled back, though.

“We were a little more patient in the second half,” Hansen said. “We ran our plays better. They slowed down a little bit and waited to find an open girl to pass the ball to. In the first half we were trying to make some plays happen that just weren’t there. We made some big shots toward the end of the game too that really helped us.”

Roxy Thurman and Taylor Peck both scored 3-pointers in the fourth, and it was Thurman’s 3-point shot that gave the Vals the lead for the first time during the game. Glacier didn’t go down easily though, catching back up to the Vals and keeping the game close.

Caitlin Charlebois scored all six of her points in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the game, including a pair of free-throws that gave the Vals the lead with under a minute left.

Glacier responded with a basket of their own to tie the game with 22 seconds left, but the Vals kept fighting. Kailey Fierro caught a long pass from Charlebois and was fouled while putting up a shot in the final seconds of the game, and found herself on the free-throw line with all eyes on her. Fierro didn’t crack under the pressure though, and sunk her shots to win the game for the Vals.

Thurman had a game high 17 points, which included two 3-pointers, and Fierro contributed 11. Quinci Paine put up eight points and went 4-6 from the free-throw line.

Peck led the Vals defensively with nine rebounds and three steals. Thurman had six rebounds and three steals. Fierro also had six rebounds, and Shults took five rebounds and completed two assists. Bigfork out-rebounded Glacier 34-18.

Hansen said that it was the Vals’ intensity that kept them in the game, and ultimately led them to victory. He said that same intensity wasn’t quite there earlier in the week when the girls played Plains.

“They reacted differently to Plains than they did Glacier,” Hansen said. “They played with different intensity. We need to make sure we play every game with the same intensity that we played with in Glacier.”

Bigfork trailed Plains 8-6 after the first quarter of play last Thursday, in their first game in three-and-a-half weeks.

“We were a little rusty in Plains, but we did enough things right to get the win,” Hansen said. “Our defense kept us going until we got our game-legs back under us on offense.”

The offense was starting to look better by the second quarter with the Vals outscoring Plains 15-10. By the end of the third quarter Bigfork was leading 33-26, and in the fourth they scored 13 and held Plains to just six points.

Thurman led the Vals with 12 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Charlebois had a total of 10 points, including a 3-pointer and made three of her four shots from the free-throw line. She scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter. Mallery Knoll put up  eight points. Peck contributed six points in the form of two 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Fierro was the leading rebounder for the Vals with six and Paine grabbed five.

Hansen said that the team’s recent success isn’t only seen in the numbers though.

“The three seniors, Quindee, Ariana and Roxy don’t always score the most points, but they’re always there with the defense and the hustle,” Hansen said. “It’s a big part of the reason we’ve been doing so well lately.”

The girls travel to Whitefish today, Jan. 15, and host Ronan on Saturday, Jan. 17. These will be the first conference games for Bigfork (3-2) since their game against Libby last month had to be rescheduled due to poor weather conditions.

“Like I told the girls, these wins we’ve had this week are nice, but these games coming up are the ones that really count,” Hansen said. “They are where you get your seeding from. Whitefish and Ronan have some good players. We are going to have to keep working hard and stay focused. We did a good job of that against Glacier and we need to play that hard or harder this week.”