Vals finish fourth

By CRISTAL JONES

for the Bigfork Eagle

One doesn’t seem like a huge number. That is, until it is the number of points hindering you from bringing home a trophy from the 2007 Montana Class A State Girl’s Basketball Tournament.

The Vals battled it out with Montana’s finest basketball teams in Belgrade for three days. Even though taking fourth place didn’t produce a trophy, it did break an over 10-year-streak of not making it to state, and a lot of pride for the team, according to Varsity Coach Nate Hammond.

“We wanted to win first place in our conference, and we did; we wanted to make it to the state tournament and show the eastern teams we could compete with them and we did. We accomplished our goals and we are proud of that,” Hammond said.

The Vals last game on Saturday night came down to a nail-biting fourth quarter, when after being behind by 10 or more points the whole game, the Vals tied it up 40-40 with the Livingston Rangers.

In the last few seconds of the game, the Vals had an opportunity to take the lead but weren’t able to score. The Rangers came out on top, beating the Vals by just one point, 54-53.

“The game could have gone either way,” Hammond said in the locker room after the game. “If we had the opportunity to play them 10 times, I bet we could beat them five times. We are just that close.”

Junior Alyssa Fierro led the game with 16 points and nine rebounds. Hattie Bowen trailed with 11 points and Charlene Miller scored 10.

“We had high expectations coming into the tournament and we wanted it real bad. We played our hardest,” senior point guard Carly Hilley said.

Earlier that morning the Vals played what they unanimously agreed on as their best game of the tourney, trampling the Havre Blue Ponies 55-35. For the first time this season, they began the game with a diamond and one defense in an effort to shut down Havre’s Katie Mariani who scored 27 points in a prior game.

“It worked really well. We held Mariani to just two points the whole game,” Hammond said.

“Everything just clicked. We were communicating and there was a lot of intensity on the court,” Hilley said.

On Friday afternoon the Vals took out the Lady Beavers of Beaverhead in a low scoring game 21-15 but lost their first game of the tournament on Thursday night to the Dawson County Red Devils 58-48.

The Vals end the season 20-4.

“We only lost to teams that were in the state tournament and Missoula Big Sky who isn’t in our conference. It is a great note to end on,” Hammond said.

The Vals will lose three seniors this season, but are optimistic about next year.

“We are setting the same goals and will work just as hard to get there again,” Hammond said.

Fierro makes all-tourney squad

Alyssa Fierro, a junior for the Bigfork Valkyries, was named to the Class A State All-Tournament basketball team.

Fierro averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds for four games in Belgrade.

She scored 18 points and pulled down 12 boards in a 58-48 opening-round loss to Glendive; scored 13 points and had eight rebounds in a 47-37 win over Dillon; tallied 17 points and totaled 14 rebounds in a 55-35 win over Havre; and finished with 16 points and nine boards in a 54-53 loss to Livingston in the consolation final on Saturday night.

Northwest A names All-Conference

The Vals’ junior guard Hattie Bowen and senior point guard Carly Hilley received the honor of being named to the Northwest A All-Conference list.

Bowen, who led the conference in free-throw shooting during the regular season, was named 1st Team along with teammate Alyssa Fierro and three other players. Bowen made 86 percent of her free-throws during the regular season. She was also among the top five players in 3-point percentage, making 18-of-61 threes.

Hilley was named 2nd team All-Conference. She was also among the top five players in the conference in terms of free-throw percentage with 67 percent. Hilley was second for the Vals in assists during the regular season, as well.