Vals battle hard, but come home empty-handed
<p>Columbus senior Sarah Pichler goes up for a jumper against Bigfork defenders Shelby Scoggins (24) and Tessa Robertson (33) during the loser-out game at the Montana State Class B girls' basketball tournament at Dale Berry Court in Hamilton on Saturday.</p>
The Bigfork Valkyries went to state for the fifth time in six years last week, but struggled to put themselves in the win column at the Hamilton-hosted tournament against both Townsend in the opening round on Thursday and Columbus in the consolation bracket on Friday.
Both games were tight defensive match-ups with low scoring on both ends and the Valkyries coming up just a couple baskets short of the win, Townsend won 44-40 and Columbus won 35-31.
Bigfork started slow against Townsend, and went down 16-7 in the first quarter. Taylor Peck got into foul trouble early on and had to sit out most of the starting quarter and some of the second.
Valkryies’ coach Mark Hansen said the team struggled defensively in that first quarter.
“Townsend is a very athletic team,” Hansen said. “They gave us match-up problems.”
But Bigfork figured it out by the second quarter and pulled in a 6-6 tie to end the first half down 22-13.
In the third quarter Bigfork started hitting shots and put up 16 to Townsend’s 12.
At one point in the fourth quarter Bigfork put in enough baskets to tie it up.
Peck made her presence felt in that second half and put up 15 of her game high of 22 points.
“We battled back and tied it up,” Hansen said. “We just couldn’t take the lead.”
Townsend pulled ahead by two baskets and kept Bigfork at bay. The Valkyries couldn’t get baskets in over Townsend’s height and the game ended with Bigfork down by four points.
The Vals leading rebounder was Tessa Robertson with eight. McKinze Shults scored eight points. Shelby Scoggins had four assists and Melissa VanDerveer had two steals.
“I was proud of the girls and their defense.” Hansen said. “It was one of the few times Townsend has been held to under 50 all year, we just couldn’t get the baskets.”
The loss put the girls in the consolation bracket and loser-out play, starting with a game against Columbus. The defensive battle was quarter-to-quarter, with momentum switching from one team to the other.
The Vals started out with a strong first quarter that put them up 9-4, only to come out struggling in the second, where they put up four points to Columbus’s 12.
The third quarter saw a repeat of the first quarter with the Vals’ putting up 10-5. The fourth quarter repeated the second with Columbus putting in the majority of the points, 14-9.
The Vals took the lead into the fourth quarter and with about a minute left in the game, it was Bigfork up, 31-29.
“Every time we took the lead, they would press.” Hansen said. “We didn’t handle the press as well as we could have.”
Columbus pressed and put in six points. Bigfork hit one of two free throws. The game ended with Columbus moving forward in State B play and the Vals headed home.
VanDerveer led Bigfork in their final game of the season with 10 points and seven rebounds. Peck put up eight. Robertson pulled down six rebounds.
Hansen said he was proud of the Vals’ performance at state.
“The girls battled, they put themselves in a position to win both games,” he said. “When they got down they battled to get back.”
Bigfork just couldn’t put the baskets in during this state tournament.
The Vals took the season 19-7, they earned the title of district 7B champions and took second in the Western B Divisional tournament.
“I think overall, finishing with 19 wins is a testament to how hard the girls worked day in and day out.” Hansen said. “Getting to state is hard, especially at this level, and the girls represented Bigfork High well.”