Vals beat the Lady Bulldogs

The Vals beat the Lady Bulldogs 57-50 in the Northwest A conference game.

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

Valkyries remain undefeated in conference, notch two wins. With wins over the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs and Ronan Maidens last week, the Bigfork Valkyries completed a first-half season sweep of the Northwest A conference.

The Vals had to fight for their 57-50 in Whitefish Jan. 9, against a tough and good-shooting Bulldog team.

Both teams were hot from the free-throw line. The Vals made 19-of-24 free throws, while the Bulldogs missed just one making 15-of-16 from the charity stripe.

"We needed a good free throw game," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "We didn't shoot the ball particularly well." The Vals shot just 36 percent from the floor during the game, but their free-throw percentage in Whitefish was their highest this season. Junior Hattie Bowen was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line against Whitefish.

"We had trouble early getting off the shots we wanted. Whitefish had a good man-to-man defense," Hammond said.

Bigfork's first field goal came courtesy of Bowen and an offensive rebound. Bowen grabbed her own miss and put it back for two points. Roxy Thurman followed with a basket and fed Alyssa Fierro for two of her 23 points on the night. Fierro ended the game with 10 rebounds as well.

Fierro's scoring, with a little help from Avery Vogel as well, put the Vals ahead at the end of the first quarter. Fierro scored four of the Vals' last six points in the opening quarter. Charlene Miller scored the other two after stealing the ball. Vogel had six assists, six rebounds and one steal against the Bulldogs, and finished with two points. Miller had seven rebounds and five steals.

"We had as many steals as turnovers," Hammond said. Bigfork had 12 of each against the Bulldogs.

Whitefish came within one of the Vals at the end of the quarter with two three-point baskets. Kali Schmidt and Kirsten Blackburn hit the threes for the Bulldogs. Blackburn’s came at the buzzer, a couple of feet behind the three-point line to cut Bigfork's lead to 15-14. The Bulldogs made five three-pointers in the game.

"Over half of their (Bulldogs) points were free-throws and threes," Hammond said. "They're trying to make a living off of those, and it's hard to win doing that." Thirty of Whitefish's 50 points were from the free-throw or three-point line.

The Vals held onto their lead in the second quarter, letting it slip out of their grasp just once and early.

The Bulldogs' Ashley Ferda sank two free-throws in the first minute of the second quarter, giving Whitefish a 16-15 lead. The Vals ran from there, lengthening their lead to 23-16 with a little more than three minutes left to play.

Whitefish cut into the Vals' lead again with a three-point basket from Blackburn. She also made the free throw after the basket, as she was fouled on the shot by Vogel.

The score remained close the rest of the first half, but the Vals always led. Carly Hilley ended the quarter for the Vals with an assist to Fierro under the basket to make the score 27-24 in favor of Bigfork.

Fierro scored eight of Bigfork's 15 points in the third quarter, helping the Vals jump out to an eight-point lead that quarter. Whitefish couldn't match the Vals' efforts in the final quarter though, as the Vals held the Bulldogs to just eight offensive rebounds in the game and won 57-50.

"We're consistently doing that to teams," Hammond said. "We were playing a good team. They were putting the ball in pretty good."

Bigfork completed its sweep of the Northwest A Saturday in Ronan, with a 51-31 win over the Maidens.

The Vals held Ronan to just six points in the first half, as they led 20-6 at halftime. Despite the large lead, Hammond said it was a tough game for the Vals.

"Charlene (Miller) was out. We felt a little out of sync," he said. He said that watching the Bigfork Vikings' overtime loss added to the Vals' tough game. "We were on an emotional roller coaster before we took the floor."

The Maidens scored five points in the third quarter.

"We played the best defense as we've ever played," Hammond said about the Ronan game. He added that the Maidens forced the Vals to take quick shots or Bigfork turnovers. The Vals had a total of 22 turnovers in Ronan.

"They (Maidens) play scrappy. It's hard to get in synch offensively. When you're not clicking offensively, you have to play tough, tough defense," Hammond said.

Ronan went on a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter, capitalizing on a lack of focus from Bigfork. The Vals led 40-13 going into the final quarter, but soon saw the score change to 40-23.

"We gave up offensive rebounds and turned the ball over," Hammond said. The Maidens had 11 rebounds - all offensive.

Bowen led the Vals in scoring with 13 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and five steals. Thurman, who had 11 points on the night, also had three assists and four of Bigfork's 16 steals. Vogel chipped in in the steals department with three. She had four assists and six points. Fierro tied her own blocks-per game record with six, all in the first half. She pulled down six rebounds as well.

The Vals, 6-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall, sit at the top of the Northwest A conference.

"We're happy to be where we are," Hammond said. "We know we can beat everybody. We know we can win it."

Bigfork looks to beat both the Libby Lady Loggers and Eureka Lions this week. The Vals host Libby tomorrow at 4:15 p.m. and travel to Eureka Saturday to take on the Lions at 3 p.m.

Bigfork 57

Whitefish 50

BIGFORK - Roxy Thurman 4, Hattie Bowen 15, Charlene Miller 7, Avery Vogel 2, Carly Hilley 4, Alyssa Fierro 23, Jaylee Haveman 2.

WHITEFISH - Kirsten Blackburn 12, Kaitlin O’Leary 4, Ashley Ferda 15, Kali Schmidt 3, Dana Labuda 6, Kate Klundt 1, Chelsea Ray 7, Torie Powell 2.

Bigfork 51

Ronan 31

BIGFORK - Hattie Bowen 13, Avery Vogel 6, Carly Hilley 2, Alyssa Fierro 6, Jaylee Haveman 7, Jamie Halliday 6, Roxy Thurman 11.

RONAN - Kaylee Larson 3, Ali Anderson 2, Shayla Couture 6, Ishan Wylie 6, Carli Starkel 2, Steph Salomon 1, Jordan Strozzi 2, Steph Meyers 2, Lindsay Roberts 2, Mariah Friedlander 5.