GIRLS BASKETBALL: Bigfork qualifies for state tournament, Ronan wins Western B divisional

Jami Grende’s voice trailed off while pouring over the final statistics, the Bigfork coach ruminating on her team’s foul trouble, shooting woes and a heart-breaking loss earlier in the week.

Then, with a broad smile reappearing, her voice came back to life.

“Anyway, we’re going to state,” she said.

Bigfork won its third straight game at the Western B divisional tournament game to claim third place — and the final bid to the state tournament — on Saturday afternoon at Flathead High School, beating Florence 52-41 in the consolation final.

The Valkyries took care of Libby, 55-39, earlier in the day at Stillwater Christian School to stay alive.

Bigfork (19-5) went undefeated through District 7B conference play and won the district tournament, entering the divisional as the top seed. They were stunned on a buzzer-beating layup by Missoula Loyola, the fourth seed from District 6B, on Thursday in the tournament’s opening round.

“It was a tough loss for us,” Grende said of Thursday’s game. “We told them that we still have a chance. It’s still out there, but it’s never an easy path.

“They never make it easy on us but, you know what? These girls are fighters. I am so proud of these girls. They never give up.”

“We got together as a team and we knew that we could pull it off,” senior guard Mattison McAnally said.

“Right after (Thursday’s game) we were like, ‘it’s in the past now, we’ve got to move forward and get that third place,’ and we did.”

Bigfork had to come from behind against the Falcons, outscoring Florence 17-4 in the fourth quarter. Asked what turned the tide the Valkyries’ way, McAnally pointed to defense.

“Our pressure on the ball (is what changed),” she said. “They didn’t like it, so we did that a lot and it worked very well.”

McAnally and sophomore Haile Norred were pests on the perimeter all night, with McAnally swiping a game-high six steals and Norred drawing a one-on-one matchup against Florence’s leading scorer, Danielle Zahn.

“(McAnally) can turn it on like that and it turns the game around,” Grende said. “When you have her and (Norred) out pressuring the ball they are fun to watch. They did a good job, they were aggressive, they moved their feet and played great defense.”

The Vals scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to turn a two-point deficit into a seven-point lead. Norred, McAnally, Katie Thomas and Miranda Campbell all scored during the decisive run.

Bigfork needed big contributions from its guards because its two senior posts were mired in foul trouble throughout. Campbell played less than a minute in the second quarter after picking up two early fouls and each player collected her fourth foul before the end of the third quarter.

Campbell did finish with a game-high 13 points and nine rebounds. Lana and Jaime Berg added 10 points each in the victory.

Zahn was a force early for Florence, scoring 11 first quarter points, but Bigfork switched to a box-and-one with Norred on Zahn and she contained the slippery freshman the rest of the way.

“Great job by (Norred),” Grende said. “That was her goal. That’s her role is to pressure her, deny her the ball and that’s what she did.

“I know (Zahn) did end up with 17 but they were 17 hard-fought points.”

Zahn’s points came on 7 of 17 shooting, including just 1 of 6 from 3-point range. Autumn Round added seven points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

Neither team shot the ball well, with the Valkyries making 28.8 percent of their shots and only 2 of 13 3-pointers. The Falcons (15-9) shot 25.9 percent from the floor and 2 for 21 from long distance.

Bigfork will begin the double-elimination state tournament March 10 in Butte at 10:30 a.m. against the Northern B divisional champions.

Florence 17 4 16 4 — 41

Bigfork 12 13 10 17 — 52

FLORENCE — Kourtney Kohlman 3 1-3 8, Autumn Round 4 1-2 9, Makenna Liles 0 3-4 3, Danielle Zahn 7 2-3 17, Chloe Arthur 0 2-2 2, Joey Janetski 0 0-0 0, Ally Rust 0 0-0 0, Jewel Zeiler 0 0-0 0, Rilee Mangun 1 0-2 2, Meghan St. Germain 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 9-16 41.

BIGFORK — Jaime Berg 2 4-5 10, Mattison McAnally 3 1-2 7, Katie Thomas 3 0-0 6, Lana Berg 3 4-5 10, Miranda Campbell 4 5-8 13, Haile Norred 2 2-6 6. Totals — 17 16-26 52.

3-point field goals — Florence 2 (Kohlman, Zahn), Bigfork 2 (J. Berg 2). Rebounds — Florence 45 (Round 13), Bigfork 40 (Campbell 9). Assists — Florence 7 (Arthur 3), Bigfork 9 (L. Berg 3). Turnovers — Florence 18, Bigfork 16. Total fouls — Florence 19, Bigfork 13. Fouled out — Liles. Technical fouls — None.

Championship Game

Ronan 54, Missoula Loyola 47

Lee Camel scored 28 points to lead Ronan to the Western B divisional championship over Missoula Loyola.

The Maidens trailed by two points at halftime and the teams entered the fourth quarter tied before Ronan pulled away. Camel had eight of her 28 points in the final period.

Only four Ronan players scored in the win, with Micalann McCrea adding 15.

Tessa Burke led Loyola with 18 points.

Ronan 17 10 11 16 — 54

Loyola 8 21 9 9 — 47

RONAN — Lee Camel 28, Micalann McCrea 15, Alicia Camel 6, Jordyn Clairmont 5.

LOYOLA — Tessa Burke 18, Skylar Hollenback 12, Brook Kolar 11, Payson Jacobson 3, Darien Schneider 3.

Loser-out games

Bigfork 55, Libby 39

Bigfork pulled away with a big fourth quarter to advance to the consolation finals and end District 7B rival Libby’s season.

The Vals outscored the Loggers 13-2 in the final period.

Miranda Campbell scored 15 points and Mattison McAnally added 10 in the win.

Shannon Reny paced Libby (10-13) in the loss.

Bigfork 10 11 21 13 — 55

Libby 6 13 18 2 — 39

BIGFORK — Miranda Campbell 15, Mattison McAnally 13, Lana Berg 10, Katie Thomas 9, Jaime Berg 6, Haile Norred 2.

LIBBY — Shannon Reny 14, Madisen Monigold 10, Jayden Winslow 9, Trinity Wallace 4, Kahlyn Hageness 2.

Florence 53, Deer Lodge 44

Freshman Danielle Zahn scored 15 points and Florence advanced to the consolation finals with a win over Deer Lodge.

The Wardens erased most of an 11-point halftime deficit in the third quarter, pulling to within three points entering the fourth, but they could not complete the comeback.

Alyssa Lamb scored 10 points for Deer Lodge in a losing effort.

Florence 16 15 8 14 — 53

Deer Lodge 10 10 16 8 — 44

FLORENCE — Danielle Zahn 15, Makenna Liles 8, Chloe Arthur 8, Ally Rust 6, Kourtney Kohlman 6, Rilee Mangun 4, Jewel Zeiler 3, Autumn Round 3.

DEER LODGE — Alyssa Lamb 10, Josee Applegate 8, Rilee Gray 8, Lenora Campbell 6, Jaicee Senecal 6, Darcy Walker 3, Kamryn Scully 2, Kerstin Cooper 1.