GIRLS BASKETBALL: Valkyries survive Trojan siege, advance to District 7B championship game

BIGFORK — It was just 13 days ago that Bigfork held Troy to 17 points in a ruthless 39-point thrashing on the Trojans’ home court.

So perhaps the Valkyries could be excused if they were caught overlooking their semifinal opponent in Thursday’s District 7B tournament.

They might not be so lucky if they do the same again.

Regular season champion Bigfork survived a furious second half comeback that saw Troy climb within four points in the final minutes, pulling away late to down the Trojans, 47-33, and advance to Saturday’s tournament championship game.

“This is a great wake-up call,” a relieved Jami Grinde, the Bigfork coach, said.

“From here on out there will be no easy games. No more blowouts. So we’ve got to get prepared for each team and adjust to each team accordingly.”

Bigfork will get second-seeded Libby in Saturday’s championship game at 5 p.m. in Polson.

Thursday night, the Vals (15-4) led 30-16 midway through the third quarter, a seemingly comfortable cushion against a Troy team that had scored just 42 points, combined, in two games against Bigfork in the regular season.

But Troy’s defense started creating turnovers and the Trojan offense began gaining confidence. Allie Coldwell ended the quarter with a basket to pull the Trojans within 32-27, and Alyssa Lewis split a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter to make the score 33-29.

Hoping to ignite her struggling team, Grinde went to the bench for a spark.

“I think the turning point was when I had Haile Norred come on in the fourth quarter,” Grinde said of the sophomore guard. “Her defense just turned things around.”

Norred knocked in a pair of free throws to extend the Bigfork lead to 39-32 with three minutes to play, and moments later Mattie McAnally picked Coldwell’s pocket and converted a three-point play on the other end to put the contest on ice.

Bigfork’s struggles were most apparent on the interior. The Valkyries stalwart posts, Lana Berg and Miranda Campbell, each notched a double-double and combined for 38 points and 26 rebounds in the win two weeks ago. Thursday, they combined for just 23 points and neither reached double figures in rebounds.

Berg finished with 11 points but was held scoreless in the first half. She notched seven of her points in the final quarter. Campbell netted 12 and McAnally added nine points in the win.

Coldwell’s nine points led Troy. Lewis and Allie Brown each added six.

Both teams will be in action Saturday in Polson for the final games of the tournament. The Trojans (11-9) will play at 1 p.m. in the third-place game against Eureka. Bigfork will get Libby at 5 p.m. for the District 7B championship.

Troy 5 5 17 6 — 33

Bigfork 10 10 12 15 — 47

TROY — Aurora Becquart 2 1-4 5, Allie Coldwell 3 3-4 9, Olivia Roach 0 0-0 0, Kaitlyn Downey 2 0-0 5, Alyssa Lewis 2 2-4 6, Sami Rohrich 1 0-0 2, Allie Brown 2 0-0 6, Tana Thill 0 0-0 0. Totals — 12 6-12 33.

BIGFORK — Jaime Berg 2 0-0 5, Mattie McAnally 3 2-3 9, Katie Thomas 3 1-2 8, Lana Berg 4 3-4 11, Miranda Campbell 6 0-0 12, Haile Norred 0 2-2 2, Shae Anderson 0 0-0 0, Reese Nissen 0 0-0 0, Rakiah Grende 0 0-0 0, Emilee Park 0 0-0 0, Lily Stewart 0 0-0 0, Megan Paulson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 8-13 47.

3-point field goals — Troy 3 (Brown 2, Downey), Bigfork 3 (J. Berg, McAnally, Thomas). Total fouls — Troy 8, Bigfork 11. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Records — Troy (11-9), Bigfork (15-4).