Top 10: Best of Bigfork basketball

I watched the University of Washington Huskies men's basketball team go from leading to losing two weeks ago during their Sweet 16 matchup against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament and somehow it made me feel a little bit better about Bigfork High School's boys and girls basketball teams' seasons. After all, that game didn't end much differently than the ones that concluded the Vikes' and Vals' seasons this year.

Having found that comfort, I decided it was a good time to reflect on the 2009-2010 season with a list of what I see as the top 10 best and worst moments in Bigfork basketball this school year. Below you will find a countdown highlighting my favorite things from the season and next week I will cover the parts I feel we could've done without.

Best 10 moments

10.) Bittersweet near victories — It may be odd to list loses under Best Moments, but after losing to Loyola handily in December, seeing both the Vikes and Vals nearly beat the highly accomplished teams out of Missoula was pretty thrilling. Although wins would've been better, the show of improvement was very impressive.

9.) Cross-town showdown — During the middle school boys basketball season, I heard that Bigfork Middle School and Swan River School used to play one another, but hadn't done so in years. I thought it would make for a fun set of games to see teams from the two schools compete, and maybe even make a good fundraiser or something, but, despite my efforts to hint about the idea it didn't happen. That is until Todd Emslie's seventh/eighth-grade girls basketball team had a chance encounter with Kim Coleman's Bigfork Middle School seventh-grade girls team. SRS won the matchup, but more importantly the soon-to-be high school teammates got a chance to share the court and the crowd got a look at the future of Valkyrie basketball.

8.) Untouchable — The Bigfork Middle School eighth-grade boys basketball team made it through its entire season, and post-season, without losing a single game. The Swan River School fifth/sixth grade girls basketball team was nearly able to accomplish the same, but lost to Helena Flats 21-13 in the championship game of the end of the season tournament.

7.) Fired up — Everything from the high school students' theme nights to the crowd sporting blue "Put me in Coach" shirts during tournament time made this season stick out as one of high spirit and enthusiasm for everyone involved in Bigfork High School basketball.

6.) Record breaking season — Although they got close several times, the Vals were finally able to break the team's record for most points in a game with their 71-34 win over Eureka in the championship game of the District 7B tournament. The previous record was set in a 2006 game against Stevensville in which Bigfork scored 70 points. Kailey Fierro also set an unofficial record in the Eureka game as she scored 20 points in the third quarter, giving her the most points in a single frame that anyone can remember a Bigfork player having. The girls also broke the record for most points in a season with 1,414, shattering the previous record of 1,238 from the 2006-2007 season.

5.) Vikes beat Bulldogs — It didn't matter that Bigfork was no longer conference rivals with Whitefish. On Jan. 15, in front of a packed BHS gym, the Bigfork boys took down the Bulldogs 60-57. In addition to chalking one up for the blue team in the age-old rivalry between the schools, the win also earned the Vikes some redemption after last year's Northwest A Divisional Tournament at which Whitefish beat Bigfork in a loser-out game to end the Vikes' season.

4.) Perfect 10 (X2) — Bigfork's basketball programs may have made a few enemies this year as they dove into their new conference and came out without a single scratch. Both the Vikes and Vals were undefeated in conference play during the regular season. In fact, the only loss that either team had to a District 7B team was the boys' loser-out game against Plains. The only school from the Western B Division to beat Bigfork was Loyola Sacred Heart-Missoula, which handed both Bigfork teams early-season loses and then beat them at the divisional tournament.

3.) Stepping up — Lila Cenis was first, but Ian Lorang did it swiftly and the guards on the girls basketball team did it without even having to think about it. This season was all about rising to the occasion when duty called for many players on the Vikes and Vals teams this season. Everyone filled the big shoes they needed to when the coach came calling. Cenis took over for Fierro, when she was suspended, as the Vals' starting post. Lorang was put in to run the Vikes at point guard following Evan Jordt's groin injury prior to the district tournament. Taylor Peck, who played guard for the Vals, tore her ACL midway through the divisional tournament and her teammates rallied together to fill the void.

2.) All-around nods — The entire starting line-up of the Vikings (Christian Ker, Keenan Evans, Travis Knoll, Lael Richmond and Jordt) and Valkyries (Caitlin Charlebois, Mallery Knoll, Quinci Paine, Peck and Cenis' basketball teams earned All-Conference honors.

1.) Bigfork sweep — The boys and girls standing on the court in Libby together with their pair of District 7B Divisional trophies. The moment when I had the boys bring the girls onto the court with them for a picture was second only to the football team winning its first game in three seasons as being my favorite moment of the school year thus far. The excitement and pride overflowed from the gym.