Valkyries nab two more wins on the road
<p>Columbia Falls' Hope Burlage tries to defend Melissa VanDerveer as she drives the baseline.</p>
The Bigfork Valkyries continue their winning season last week with a 45-41 over Columbia Fall’s Wildkats on Thursday and a 42-25 win over Troy on Friday.
Taylor Peck led the shooting and was 10 of 12 for three-pointers over the two games.
“She had a great weekend shooting threes,” Valkyries Head Coach Mark Hansen said. “She broke a school record.”
She beat Bigfork High School’s record for most threes in a game, with six in Columbia Falls. She had four threes in Troy.
Peck took the highest score against the Wildkats with 20 points. Melissa VanDerveer had 12. Defensively, Bigfork had the ship locked down in the first three quarters holding the Kats to just 19 points, while scoring 31.
However, the fourth quarter saw the Vals 11 point lead shrink considerably and the game opened up. Columbia Falls outscored Bigfork 22-14 in that last quarter, but the Vals managed to hold onto just enough points to keep their lead.
VanDerveer continued her rebounding streak with 12 and Tessa Robertson had 6.
Although Mckinze Shults only put away 2 points, Hansen said her number of baskets doesn’t reflect her playing. Shults had six assists and no turnovers.
“She did an awesome job of getting the ball to the open people,” Hansen said.
The Vals took another road trip on Friday and headed to Troy with the Vikings. The girls had another solid first three quarters against Troy.
They held Troy to just four points in the first half and eight in the third quarter. But, the fourth quarter saw the Vals slow down and they were beat in the fourth quarter for the second day in a row. This time, it was just by two.
But, their solid lead going into the fourth was unsurmountable and the game ended with Bigfork up by 17. Peck led the scoring once again with 18 points. VanDerveer and Robertson lit up the defensive end and pulled six rebounds each. VanDerveer and Shults had four steals each and Peck had six assists.
Hansen said Shelby Scoggins has been leading the way on the floor rather than on the statistics sheet.
“Shelby is starting to hit her stroke again,” he said. “She’s not up there in the stats, but she plays hard on both offense and defense.”
Next up for the Vals is another away game at Florence-Carlton on Friday and a home game on Saturday against Thompson Falls at 6 p.m.