Vals play steady in opening games

The Valkyries downed both of their conference opponents, Eureka and Mission, but lost their non-conference matchup with Loyola this week.

Bigfork (2-0, 3-2) beat Mission 51-24 Monday night and defeated Eureka 64-44 last Thursday. In between the two in-district victories, Bigfork lost to Loyola 51-45.

In St. Ignatius, the Vals started the game off with a quick 19-3 first quarter lead over Mission. Bigfork added another eight points in the second quarter, while holding the Lady Bulldogs to three points again. The Vals furthered their lead in the third quarter by outscoring Mission 13-6.

"We started the game off well, but all of the girls sort of lost their intensity as the game went on," said Mark Hansen, Bigfork High School head girls basketball coach. "We've had some good first quarters since our game against Anaconda, but now we have to learn to play all four quarters no matter what the score is."

The Lady Bulldogs were able to gain a little ground back in the final period as they posted 12 points to Bigfork's 11.

"We were pressing in the beginning," Hansen said. "We mixed up the defense a little bit in the second half. We had them playing man-to-man and we didn't do that as well. It was a good experience for the girls to realize that they have to play good defense in man-to-man also."

Junior Mallery Knoll had a game-high 13 points. Fellow juniors Caitlin Charlebois and Quinci Paine contributed 12 and nine, respectively.

"I thought Quinci Paine played well," Hansen said. "She took on a new position in our offense and did a good job for us there."

Against Loyola, the Vals held a 15-10 lead after the first quarter. However, they were outscored 17-7 in the second quarter and trailed by five points at the half.

"In the first quarter, we came out and we ran and broke their press pretty well," Hansen said. "We had good intensity. Then we got into a little foul trouble and that hurt us. The bench is a little lighter these days so we didn't have as many girls to pull from."

The Vals lost senior transfer student Danielle Morris, who quit the team prior to this week's games, and senior returning starter Kailey Fierro, who missed the team's games against Mission and Loyola due to a school-related disciplinary action.

"We'll just kind of keep plugging players in as we can," Hansen said of his shortened varsity roster. "Everyone should get plenty of playing time. That shouldn't be a problem."

Bigfork put up 11 points in the third quarter of their game against Loyola, which stayed ahead with 10 third quarter points. The Vals were unable to push the Rams out of the lead in the fourth having scored 12 points to their 14.

"We had a chance to tie it up with about a minute to go, but we didn't execute as well as we should have," Hansen said. "Overall I was proud of the girls for playing with as much heart as they did."

Although the Vals kept the game close with powerhouse Loyola, they may have had more success if they had fouled less. Bigfork allowed the Rams to shoot 30 free throws.

"One of the things we can't do is foul so much," Hansen said. "We can't lose to a team as good as Loyola by only five points because we allowed them to shoot so many free throws, especially when we only shoot 15."

Knoll led the Vals with 15 points, four steals and four assists. Charlebois added nine points, five assists and three steals. Paine, who led Bigfork in rebounds with seven, contributed six points. Sophomore Taylor Peck had two 3-pointers.

Senior Lila Cenis filled Fierro's position up top for the games she missed.

"I thought Lila did a really nice job of stepping up into the five position both games," Hansen said.

Over the holiday break Hansen will be working with the girls to create a new offense to accommodate the loss of Fierro, a 6-1 post.

"We are putting a whole new offense in," Hansen said. "What I had put together was all for two post players, so we have to sort of start over from scratch."

In their first conference matchup of the season, Bigfork took out Eureka with ease, starting with a 24-10 first quarter charge that had six Vals contributing points. In the second quarter, both teams scored 10 points allowing the Vals to lead 34-20 at the half. Bigfork put the pressure back on it the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Lions 13-5.

"I thought our pressure was really good in this game," Hansen said. "We just fouled too much for some reason. It seems like the girls were working hard, but they just had a lot of fouls."

The Vals let up in the fourth quarter, allowing Eureka to rack up another 19 points while they scored 17, but Bigfork was still able to come away with the win.

"Our guards did a nice job," Hansen said. "Taylor had eight assists and Caitlin had seven. That means the other girls were doing what they needed to do and getting open and our guards were doing a good job of finding them."

Peck led the Vals with 16 points. She made both of her free throws and two 3-pointers in addition to grabbing three steals. Knoll also made her only foul shot of the night and helped carry Bigfork with 13 points, three steals and six rebounds. Charlebois contributed 11 points, including a 3-pointer, and she was two-for-four from the line. Fierro led the Vals in rebounding with eight.

The Vals will co-host the double-header against Thompson Falls with the Vikings on Saturday, Jan. 2.