Vals tear through Class B matchups
Jordan Dawson/Bigfork Eagle Roxy Thurman lays the ball up during the Vals’ game against the Plains Trotters last week. The Valkyries handily defeated Plains and Mission in a pair of Class B games last week.
The Vals (9-7) hosted Plains High School last Thursday night and Mission on Saturday night and showed just how well they will perform in Class B next year, beating the Trotters 67-38 and the Bulldogs 51-44.
Bigfork had a slow start against Mission, putting up just seven points in the first quarter while Mission scored 11. The Vals rallied from there and took the lead by outscoring their opponent 15-8 in the second and 18-8 in the third. Mission gained a little ground in the fourth with 17 points to Bigfork’s 11, but it wasn’t enough to take the lead away from the Vals.
“Mission is a well-coached team and they have some great athletes,” said Bigfork head girls basketball coach Mark Hansen. “They played us tough. We ran the floor well and cashed in on layups.”
Roxy Thurman and Mallery Knoll led the Vals with 18 points and 16 points, respectively. Quinci Paine added eight. Kailey Fierro had five points and led the team in rebounding with eight.
“Kailey did a nice job of distributing the ball because they were doubling down on her,” said Hansen.
Last Thursday’s win against Plains was a total team effort, according to coach Hansen.
“I thought all of the girls did a nice job,” he said. “It was a good team win. We’ve been working on that and I think they really took it to heart. They really looked for their teammates out there and passed the ball really well.”
Freshman Taylor Peck, who recently began starting for Bigfork, and Thurman jump started the Vals in the first quarter, scoring a combined nine of the team’s 13 points, while Plains put up just eight. Knoll exploded in the second quarter, putting up 11 points to help Bigfork outscore the Trotters 20-6 in the second.
“I thought we got out and ran really well,” Hansen said. “Roxy and Taylor found Mallery really well, but I give Mallery the credit for getting it done.”
Seven Vals players put up points in the third quarter, for a total of 19 points and six Vals contributed to the team’s 15 points in the final period, while Plains put up 12 in each of the final two quarters.
“We played better defense than we have been,” Hansen said. “The girls got out there and did some things they needed to do. They did a good job of shooting the ball, too.”
In all, 10 Bigfork girls scored, while defensively they allowed only three players from Plains to score. Knoll led Bigfork in scoring with 19 points, including a 3-pointer and three back-to-back field goals all in the third quarter. Caitlin Charlebois posted 10 points in the form of two 3-pointers, one field goal and a perfect two-for-two from the line. Fierro contributed nine and Thurman had eight, all of which she scored in the first half. Thurman and Knoll each made five steals and Thurman also had four assists. Peck had seven points and six of the team’s 19 assists. Paine had four steals. Ariana Shults and Quindee Averill led the Vals in rebounding with five each.
The Vals hosted Libby on Tuesday, the results of which can be found on the Bigfork Eagle’s Web site.
The Bigfork girls travel to Ronan today, Feb. 12, and host Whitefish on Saturday in their last home game of the season at which Senior Night will be celebrated.