Boys extend winning streak; two tough losses for Valkyries

Bigfork ran away from the Wildcats in the second half to secure a nonconference boys basketball win at Bigfork High School on Friday night.

The Vikings took a 15-11 lead into halftime, then outscored the Wildcats 32-18 in the second half behind some excellent shooting performances. The Vikings knocked down six triples in the second half.

Coach John Hollow praised his team’s defensive effort. “We say if we keep a team under 50 we’ll have a really good opportunity to win games,” he said.

Isak Epperly knocked down five 3-pointers for his game-high 15. Colton Thorness had eight points to go with seven boards, and Walker Fisher tallied six points on two triples.

Bigfork 8 7 16 16 – 47

Columbia Falls 2 9 8 10 – 29

BIGFORK – Isak Epperly 15, Colton Thorness 8, Walker Fisher 6, Eli Hines 5, Wyatt Reichenbach 5, Isaac Bjorgie 4, Levi Taylor 2, Wyatt Duke 2.

CFALLS – Cade Morgan 6, Danny Henjum 6, William Dyon 2, Dillon Shipp 8, Allec Knapton 7.

Saturday

Bigfork 56, Missoula Loyola 53

Bigfork won its fourth consecutive game in a back-and-forth affair between Western B foe Missoula Loyola on Saturday evening at Bigfork High School.

The Vikings (4-3) jumped out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game before the Rams answered with a 16-3 run to end the first quarter. But Bigfork used a big offensive second quarter to take a 33-27 lead in halftime.

The Vikings stopped Loyola from making a significant rally in the second half and kept the winning streak alive.

“We did a really great job of controlling the game … we played at our tempo,” coach John Hollow said. “Two big wins for us.”

“We started how we wanted” coming out of Winter Break, Hollow said, adding his team put in a lot of work on the 3-point shot and it “really showed.”

Walker Fisher cashed in five triples to score a team-high 16 points. Colton Thorness added 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and tallied four blocks.

The Vikings visited Troy on Tuesday evening, but results were not available as of press time.

Bigfork 11 22 8 15 – 56

Loyola 16 11 10 16 – 53

BIGFORK – Walker Fisher 16, Colton Thorness 14, Levi Taylor 8, Eli Hines 7, Isak Epperly 6, Wyatt Reichenbach 2, Isaac Bjorgie 2, Wyatt Duke 1.

LOYOLA – Will Burns 3, Nick Mitzel 20, Jaden Job 18, Parker Pratt 5, Finn Richardson 1, Liam Haffey 4.

Girls

Thursday

Columbia Falls 55, Bigfork 41

COLUMBIA FALLS – An early deficit proved too much to overcome for the Valkyries as they fell to undefeated Columbia Falls in nonconference action last Thursday evening at Columbia Falls High School.

Bigfork (4-2 overall) was down 19-8 after one quarter. The Wildkats only outscored the Valkyries 36-33 the rest of the way, but Bigfork could not manage a rally to make the home team uncomfortable.

Ansleigh Edgerton led all scorers with 19 points, and Emma Berreth tallied nine for Bigfork. The Valkyries struggled from the field, going 15-of-51 on shot attempts.

The Wildkats had three players score in double digits, led by Lakia Hill with 17 and Hannah Schweikert with 12. Hill was a lethal 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Bigfork 8 12 7 14 – 41

Columbia Falls 19 12 10 14 – 55

BIGFORK – Ansleigh Edgerton 19, Emma Berreth 9, Callie Martinz 5, Maddison Chappuis 3, Isabella Santistevan 3, Ashton McAnally 2.

CFALLS – Lakia Hill 17, Hannah Schweikert 12, Maddie Robison 11, Madysen Hoemer 9, Josie Windauer 4, Graceanne Sevesind 2.

Saturday

Loyola 46, Bigfork 37

The Valkyries dropped their second straight game in a Saturday Western B clash at Bigfork High School.

Bigfork (4-3) only managed 15 points in the first half in what head coach Cortnee Gunlock called “one of our poorest shooting performances.”

The Valkyries shot just 29% from the field and were 10-of-20 on free-throw attempts.

“Part of it was nerves,” Gunlock said. “We know we can make it a game” against Loyola. She said her team did not hand Loyola’s pressure well and made too many uncharacteristic turnovers.

Bigfork committed 18 turnovers to just four for Loyola.

Ansleigh Edgerton paced the Valkyries with 13 points and Scout Nadeau had eight. Emma Berreth hauled in eight rebounds for Bigfork.

Lani Walker and Sam Clevenger scored the majority of the Rams’ points, with 20 and 17, respectively.

Bigfork 10 5 9 13 – 37

Loyola 11 10 15 10 – 46

BIGFORK – Ansleigh Edgerton 13, Scout Nadeau 8, Maddison Chappuis 5, Ashton McAnally 4, Emma Berreth 4, Nevaeh Carlin 2, Isabella Santistevan 1.

LOYOLA – Lani Walker 20, Sam Clevenger 17, Kelsey Esh 5, Sydney Koppang 4.