New coaches lead Vikes and Vals into new season

The Bigfork High School varsity basketball teams are full of familiar faces on the court, but the faces coaching from the sidelines have all changed.

Sam Tudor has joined the Vikings as the boys head coach and Jami Grende has taken on the role for the Valkyries.

Coming off a perfect season and their first-ever state title in basketball, all eyes are on the Vikes. The team lost two seniors, Christian Evans and Cameron Nissen, but with them, lost a lot of their height. Tudor said they will compensate the lack of size with speed, athleticism and hard work. The lineup includes Isaac Martel, Josh Sandry and Adam Jordt as guards and Ryder Trent, Tyler Piazzola and Jonathan Landon as forwards. None of the returning players fits the mold as a traditional post and because of that, “It may take some time before the cogs click into place since this team is so guard-oriented,” Tudor said.

While that will present a challenge for the coaching staff, it will also present some possibilities when implementing offenses and defenses. “We will be unorthodox,” Tudor said.

Tudor is the Vikings’ fifth coach in five years, though he did spend two years as an assistant coach under Kurt Paulson and Mark Hansen. He has also been a teacher at the school for a few years and knows the boys well off the court.

“This is scary as a first year coach,” he said. “But I know the kids and they tend to put my mind at ease. We trust each other.”

Tudor’s hopes as the new coach extend beyond this season. “It is my hope that we can stay healthy, make a push for the state tourney, and instill the dynamic character of our seniors into our underclassmen, so we can continue to build the program,” he said. But mostly he’s happy to be part of the team. “It’s a fun bunch with a sense of humor that’s so sharp it could cut glass,” he said.

Most of the faces on the girls team will be familiar this year as they lost Tessa Roberts to graduation. New head coach Jami Grende is excited to be taking over an already talented team.

“I think I’m walking into a really positive situation,” she said. “I’m totally taking advantage of our strengths, and that’s our speed.”

So far she’s been focusing on keeping up the tempo and cutting back on turnovers. She said the Vals will win a lot of games that way.

“All I’m asking is that we’re competitive in every game,” she said. “I think the season looks very promising.”

Grende played at Eastern Washington University, and coached high school girls and junior high girls and boys basketball before taking time away from coaching to focus on her family.

She’s excited to be back working with a high school varsity team.

“I missed it,” she said. “I realized this is definitely where I need to be.” 

After a couple weeks of practices she’s itching to get the girls on the court and into a game.

“I’m really anxious to see how we play,” she said. “The first weekend is going to be critical in how next week’s practices go and what we need to focus on.”

The Vikings and Valkyries head to Missoula on Friday for a two-day tournament. The Vikes will face Frenchtown at 2 p.m. Friday and Polson at 7 p.m. Saturday. The Vals will play Frenchtown at 10 a.m. on Friday and Polson at 1 p.m. on Saturday.