Vikings start season with two strong victories
Polson and Frenchtown had the height, but Bigfork took the wins over both teams at the Tipoff Tournament in Missoula last weekend.
The tournament was the first outing for the defending state Class B boys basketball champions and they proved that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
The boys beat Frenchtown 70-48 on Friday and took down Polson 72-35 on Saturday.
Bigfork head coach Sam Tudor said they had a bit of rust to shake off on Friday but ultimately “They just really took to it, like a duck to water.”
Tudor said Isaac Martel and Adam Jordt as guards and Jonathan Landon and Tyler Piazzola as posts were bright spots that helped contribute to the team success.
Martel led the Vikes in scoring in both games putting up 21 points against Polson and 18 against Frenchtown.
“I was just excited they came out ready to play,” Tudor said. “They had fun, that was the main thing.”
“We have a lot of fun together and I think that’s why we do so good,” Jordt said.
The Valkyries’ games against Polson and Frenchtown were much closer.
The Vals were down by four points with eight seconds left against Polson on Saturday. The Lady Pirates had the ball under the Valkyries’ net, passed to half court where it was picked off by Bigfork freshman Jami Berg who took a long shot to sink a three-pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining. Head coach Jami Grende called a timeout. When play resumed Polson passed to half court again, where the ball was picked off by Bigfork’s Mattie McAnnally who shot and missed. Lana Berg rebounded McAnnally’s shot and put it back up to score the winning basket as the clock ran out. The Valkyries beat Polson 38-37.
“It was absolutely the craziest game I have ever witnessed,” Grende said.
The Vals lost to Frenchtown 52-49 on Friday, and despite an exciting victory over Polson Grende noted many areas where the Vals can improve.
They are learning a new defense and chalked up a lot of fouls in both games. Three players fouled out against Frenchtown and two fouled out against Polson.
“They’re aggressive and we just need to control our fouls,” Grende said.
Lana Berg led in scoring against Frenchtown with 19 points while Miranda Campbell led against Polson with 11 points.
On Thursday the boys will travel to Eureka and the girls will host Eureka at home. The varsity game will start at 7 p.m. Both the girls and boys teams will face Plains at home on Saturday. Varsity girls will go at 4:30 p.m., varsity boys at 6 p.m.
BOYS
Bigfork 72, Polson 35
Polson 13 11 6 5 — 35
Bigfork 21 26 22 3 — 72
POLSON — Chris McDonald 10, Payton Lefthand 7, Tanner Wilson 6, Andrew Curley 3, Joe Callatin 2, Matthew Remsvold 7.
BIGFORK — Matt Farrier 1, Adam Jordt 11, Isaac Martel 21, Tyler Piazzola 4, Jonathan Landon 10, Josh Sandry 7, Ryder Trent 14, George Gibson 2, Garrett Beville 2.
Bigfork 70, Frenchtown 48
Bigfork 19 10 22 19 — 70
Frenchtown 11 10 9 11 — 48
BIGFORK — Adam Jordt 13, Isaac Martel 18, Tyler Piazzola 5, John Landon 16, Josh Sandry 7, Ryder Trent 8, Garrett Beville 3.
FRENCHTOWN — Jacob Price 2, Chris Delaney 6, Brandon Rasar 3, Bridger Truett 12, Austin Means 15, Levi Lund 2, Andrew King 6, Parker Statt 2.
GIRLS
Bigfork 38, Polson 37
Polson 22 4 3 8 — 37
Bigfork 19 4 4 11 — 38
POLSON – Skyla Krantz 2, Marlee Congdon 14, Lauren Lefthand 1, Brenna Clarke 3, Nichole Lake 6, Erin Sampson 6, Mckenna Weltz 5.
BIGFORK – Marissa Hiza 1, Riley Coleman 3, Jamie Berg 7, Matti McAnally 6, Lana Berg 10, Miranda Campbell 11.
Frenchtown 52, Bigfork 49
Bigfork (0-1) plays Polson today at 1 p.m. Frenchtown faces Corvallis at 11 a.m.
Bigfork 9 11 17 10 — 49
Frenchtown 12 12 14 14 — 52
BIGFORK — Riley Coleman 4, Jaime Berg 1, Mattie McAnally 10, Katie Thomas 5, Lana Berg 19, Miranda Campbell 10.
FRENCHTOWN — Emma Pyron 4, Haley Cyr 2, Laci Willett 5, Krista Hebnes 2, Alli Moe 3, Brooke Yarnall 9, Lexie Statelen 1, Lacey Hochhalter 8, Megan Delaney 3, Olivia Williams 15.