Valkyries repeat as district champions

Another year, another district title for the Bigfork Valkyries.

The defending 7B champions repeated by draining seven free throws in the final 2:11 to preserve their lead, claiming a 50-38 victory over the Plains Trotters on Saturday night in Columbia Falls.

The Valkyries, who shot 41 free throws, were 54 percent from the charity stripe and used a stifling 2-3 zone defense to hold the Trotters scoreless in the final 2:20 of the game.

After Katie Thomas’ back-door cut led to a layup, giving the Valkyries their largest lead of the night, the Trotters made a run to cut into the 13-point deficit with an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by a huge Jade LaDeaux 3-pointer.

It was the last points for Plains as five different Valkyries made it to the free-throw line to ice the game.

“It was a team effort. Plains is a great team and we came out ready to play tonight,” Bigfork head coach Jami Grende said. “Usually we start a little slow, but not tonight. Even without Matti McAnally, to beat Plains by 12 is a huge accomplishment for the group of girls. They earned it.”

Four Valkyries had eight points or more, including Lana Berg, whose double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds led all players in each category.

Riley Coleman and Miranda Campbell finished with eight points each while Thomas poured in 11.

“I’m proud of all these girls. It was a team effort, and that’s what you need. A one-man show isn’t going to win you a lot of games,” Grende said.

Plains kicked off the contest on an 8-2 run within the first 2:51.

Leah Thompson, who finished with five points, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and Kimberly Earhart nearly had another, draining a long field goal.

Earhart also tallied five points in the game, and senior Hailey Phillips notched a team-high 11 points.

Bigfork’s Thomas would hit two catch-and-shoot treys off inbound passes from Marissa Hiza to stop the Trotters’ momentum.

Switching to a zone in the second quarter, Bigfork held Plains to four just four points in the period to take a 24-21 advantage into the break.

The Valkyries won their second game against Plains this year after splitting the regular season series by a combined three points.

“We tend to rise to the occasion. The last few times we played Plains it wasn’t pretty,” Grende said. “I really felt the girls played a great game tonight all around. The score showed it.”

On Thursday in Bigfork the Vals sealed their spot in the district championship game in an entertaining matchup against Thompson Falls.

The Valkyries shrugged off early turnovers and a sluggish shooting performance to erase a six point third-quarter deficit, surging to a 49-39 home victory.

“It took us a whole half to get going, but we figured it out,” Grende said. “We worked out the kinks and were able to execute our plays in the second half.”

Bigfork’s first four possessions of the contest resulted in consecutive turnovers as the Blue Hawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead.

Thompson Falls claimed its biggest lead of the night at the end of the first half when Brooke Jacobs’ jumper from the left corner fell through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.

The Blue Hawks led 29-21 at the break, but it was a different Bigfork team to start the third quarter.

Bigfork’s Thomas found Lana Berg on a back door cut on the Valkyries first possession of the second half. After a defensive stop, Thomas drove the lane for a layup and Thompson Falls quickly called a timeout.

Coming out of the break, Jamie Berg hit a 3-point from the left corner and Bigfork had a 7-1 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter.

The Blue Hawks scored just three points in the third and 10 in the second half as Bigfork found its rhythm and never looked back.

“In the second half we were able to look for the open player and shots were falling,” Grende said.

“The defense has definitely won games for us. When we can’t get the ball through the hoop then we can rely on our defense to hold them. The girls do a good job. They work hard and they know what their job is on the floor defensively.”

Thompson Falls tied the game at 38 with just over four minutes remaining, but Bigfork’s Campbell, who scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, iced the victory with two easy layups in the final two minutes.

“Miranada Campbell had a great game tonight,” Grende said. “What a great game for her to step up. We’re short Matti McAnally  but Miranda had a great game.”

Berg grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Bigfork. Thomas added seven assists to her eight-point effort.

“Lana is a fighter. She’s a competitor. She loves to compete. When the game gets tough, she gets tougher,” Grende said.

“She never came out of the game and neither did Katie Thomas. That’s a lot of minutes on the floor without a break, but we needed them.”

The Valkyries will now open the divisional tournament at Flathead High with a 6 p.m. matchup against Florence on Wednesday.

Bigfork 14 10 15 11 — 50

Plains 17 4 7 10 — 38

BIGFORK — Marissa Hiza 0 2-6 2, Riley Coleman 1 5-9 8, Jaime Berg 0 5-8 5, Katie Thomas 4 1-2 11, Lana Berg 4 5-10 13, Josie Spoklie 1 0-0 3, Miranda Campbell 2 4-6 8. Totals — 12 22-41 50.

PLAINS — Kimberly Earhart 2 0-1 5, Sami Kinzie 3 0-3 6, Jade LaDeaux 1 0-0 3, Carley Vontleeder 1 2-4 4, Hailey Phillips 3 5-9 11, Kayla Holmes 2 0-0 4, Leah Thompson 2 0-0 5. Totals — 14 7-17 38.

Thompson Falls 15 14 3 7 — 39

Bigfork 8 13 13 15 — 49

THOMPSON FALLS — Lindsay Laws 4, Shey Hannum 8, Brooke Jacobs 4, Autrey Hannum 16, Logan Beckman 7.

BIGFORK — Haile Norred 1, Marissa Hiza 8, Riley Coleman 2, Jamie Berg 5, Katie Thomas 8, Lana Berg 7, Miranda Campbell 18.