Vals take Whitefish tourney

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

In a gymnasium full of yellow and green championship banners, it was Bigfork's red, white and blue that took home the championships titles in both the varsity and junior varsity portions of the 2007 Powerade Tournament in Whitefish June 29-July 1.

The Vals' varsity team — Signa McLeod, Emily Hardman, Kailey Fierro, Hattie Bowen, Alyssa Fierro, Charlene Miller and Avery Vogel — finished the tournament with a 5-1 record. Bigfork lost only to Whitefish. McLeod and Hardman also played on the JV team with Lila Cenis, McKenzie Reeve, Holly MacFarlane, Caitlin Charlebois, Nikki Hagler and Jessica Killian. Quinci Paine played on the JV team the first three games of the tournament. The JV team beat Florence in the championship game 34-21.

Vogel and Charlebois, both guards, were named tournament MVPs.

"It was nice to see Avery play really well," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "We have two all-conference players returning in Hattie Bowen and Alyssa Fierro. If others step up and play at that level, it will help us balance-wise."

Bigfork's Saturday afternoon varsity games were dominated by good team play and quickness on the Vals' side of things. The Vals defeated Florence 45-28 and Libby 55-38. They also beat Hamilton earlier, 40-24, and went on to lose against Whitefish 41-36 that evening.

"The kids were pretty tired. That was our fourth game that day," Hammond said. "It was Whitefish's second game. They had a little extra spring in their step than we did."

Bigfork topped Corvallis 42-32 and Columbia Falls 54-26.

With an early lead, the Vals continued to shoot well against Florence and keep a good lead that Florence could not overcome. The Vals' success continued against the Lady Loggers.

The Vals scored first on baskets by Vogel and Kailey Fierro. Throughout the first 20-minute half, the Vals nearly doubled up on Libby. Bigfork led 23-12 with 4:10 remaining on the clock. The Loggers' center Jackie Mee started scoring more for Libby as the Vals were beaten on their defensive end. McLeod picked things up for the Vals, getting back quickly on defense and grabbing rebounds for Bigfork. Bigfork led 28-14 at halftime.

The Vals' defense in the second half was stifling with blocks, steals and tipped passes. Their quickness kept the Vals' lead large at 46-24 with 6:38 remaining in the game. The Lady Loggers hustled as well, knocking down the 3-point baskets. Libby made the first after a steal and two more followed that one, both by Mee. Bigfork was outscored 10-1 in that two-minute span, but still led 47-32 with 4:33 on the clock. Libby's threat ended there, as the game pace picked up and Vals rolled on to a 55-38 win.

Bigfork's JV team won four games in round-robin play, putting the Vals in the championship game against Florence Sunday afternoon. They defeated Columbia Falls 38-36, Libby 42-24, Florence 35-16 and Libby 56-10.

The teams kept things close early in the game, as it was tied 8-8 about six minutes into the first half and tied 10-10 with 12:08 on the clock. Bigfork started to jump ahead of Florence with a steal by Hagler. She passed the ball down the floor to Charlebois.

"Caitlin's so fast, she's able to get a lot of steals and breakaway layups," Hammond said.

Cenis added to the Vals' efforts with a block on defense and numerous rebounds.

Hardman's basket, assisted by Hagler, made the score 12-11 with 4:51 remaining in the half. She added another basket after a steal of her own and a basket by Reeve. Bigfork led 16-11 at halftime.

Bigfork got shots of in the second half, but many of them did not fall through and Florence began to sneak up on the Vals. Florence cut the Vals' lead to three points — 18-15 — with 14:56 on the clock. The Vals stretched out their lead again, leading 23-15 a little more than a minute later, but Florence came back to within five points of the Vals with 7:26 remaining in the game. Florence got no closer than nine points in the remaining seven minutes of the game, as the Vals won 34-21.

The tournament in Whitefish was the last of the Vals' summer schedule. The varsity competed in 17 games and finished with a 13-4 record, while the JV played 10 games and lost one of them.

"That's a regular season," Hammond said about the number of games played in the span of one month.

Open gym continues for the Vals Monday nights at 7 p.m. and Thursdays at 5 p.m. All girls interested in playing basketball are welcome to attend.