Valkyries down Polson, Billings Central and Dawson County to improve to 4-1
A running jumper by Ava Davey (above) gives the Valkyries the lead at the end of the third quarter against Billings Central in Lewistown Friday. Paeten Gunlock (below)steals the ball from Dawson County’s Codi Nagle in the first half Saturday. (Jeremy Weber/Bigfork Eagle)
The Valkyries pushed their latest winning streak to four games last week as they picked up wins over Polson, Billings Central and Dawson County (Glendive).
The Vals got off to a sluggish start at Polson Dec. 12 but still managed to outscore the Lady Pirates 27-12 in the first half. It was all Bigfork in the second half as the Valkyries held Polson to a single point to pull away for a 52-13 victory.
Ava Davey led the way for the Vals in the win with 15 points and six rebounds while Braeden Gunlock added 10 points and nine rebounds and Callie Gembala had 10 points and eight boards.
Paeten Gunlock chipped in with six points, seven steals, six assists and five rebounds while Afton Lambrecht scored six points and pulled down seven rebounds. Keni Wade also scored five points in the victory.
The Vals faced a much tougher test at the East/West Tournament in Lewistown Friday afternoon as they took on Billings Central, a team that reached the State A semifinal last season.
Bigfork led by a single point at 13-12 after one quarter of play before back-to-back threes by Braeden Gunlock early in the second quarter helped push the Vals’ lead to 19-12.
The Valkyries continued to attack, using a 14-0 run to go up 27-12 before settling for a 27-19 lead at the half.
It was the Lady Rams’ turn to make a run in the third quarter, tying the score at 33-all with 1:55 to play in the frame before taking their first lead of the game at 34-33 on a free throw by GG Hastings with 25.6 seconds remaining.
A Davey jumper at the end of the quarter put the Vals back in the lead heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Consecutive threes by the Gunlock sisters and a fast-break assist from Paeten to Braeden helped the Vals push the lead to 43-34 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lady Rams would not go quietly.
A three by Hastings cut the Bigfork lead to 43-39 with 2:45 to play, but Braeden Gunlock answered with a jumper at the shot clock buzzer on the Vals’ next possession to push the lead back to six.
Bigfork was able to hold on over the final two minutes to pull out a 46-41 victory.
Braeden Gunlock led the way with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Vals in the win while Davey finished with eight points and seven boards.
Paeten Gunlock finished with five points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals while Gembala added four points and five rebounds and Wade had four points.
It was all Bigfork Saturday morning as the Vals had no trouble against Dawson County, downing the Lady Red Devils 55-23.
The Valkyries scored the first nine points of the game and jumped out to a 19-6 lead after eight minutes of play before pushing their lead to 33-13 at the half.
Braeden Gunlock was the leading scorer in the win with 17 points and added 15 rebounds and four steals while Paeten Gunlock finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists.
Gembala poured in nine points to go along with seven rebounds while Davey added seven points, Wade scored five, Chloe Norred had three points and Haley Schara scored two.
The Vals were on the road to take on Hamilton after press time Tuesday and will be at home to take on Stevensville at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.