Valkyrie basketball stands tall

Bigfork rolls to 18-2 record under coach Hammond

The Daily Inter Lake

Victories have been sparse lately at Bigfork.

Bigfork High School's athletic programs struggled mightily last fall, including an injury-plagued and winless football season. The boys basketball team competed fiercely this winter, but didn't enjoy any post-game celebrations either.

But the girls basketball team is standing tall: A nascent powerhouse, which won the Northwestern A conference for the first time this season under sixth-year head coach Nate Hammond. The Valkyries take an 18-2 record to Belgrade for the Class A state tournament, which begins Thursday.

"We've never went to state in my six years," Hammond said. "We got third (in the division) last year. We were 3-17 my first year, and then it got a little better from there."

Actually, it got a lot better. The Valkyries spent three seasons hovering around .500 before going 14-8 last year, but they hadn't won a state or conference title since moving up from Class B a decade ago.

The Valkyries' remarkable success proves that winning is possible at Bigfork, but it is not without its unique challenges.

"I think enrollment is an issue," Hammond said. "I think we can have good teams, but I don't think year in and year out."

Bigfork's 2006-07 enrollment of 367 is the second smallest in Northwestern A, edging only Eureka (343), which moves back to Class B next year. Columbia Falls' enrollment is 878, and Whitefish's is 705. Bigfork's enrollment is the smallest of any school in the state tournament.

"It's awful tough when those (rival) schools have double and triple the kids we do to be year in,

year out, competitive," Hammond said. "When we do have good kids we have to take advantage of it."

And take advantage they have. The Valkyries went 11-1 during the conference's regular season, losing only at Northwestern A runner-up and state-bound Columbia Falls. Their other loss came at Class AA Missoula Big Sky (enrollment 1,292).

"I know our girls just kind of expected to win the conference," said the 30-year-old Hammond, who is 66-59 at Bigfork. "I don't know where that came from for sure, but second place or losing was never really good enough for them."

Hammond said several Valkyrie cagers have tasted success in Yvonne Peck's volleyball program, but even that can't fully explain their unflinching resolve.

"It's hard to get a group of kids to come in and say, 'We expect to win,' and that's what these kids have done, and I don't know what to attribute that to," Hammond said.

Low enrollment isn't Bigfork's only athletic obstacle.

"The other thing is we don't quite have the facilities that those other teams do," Hammond said. "Basketball isn't as much of a numbers game as football, so I don't think basketball is at as much of a disadvantage as football, but our weight room - we don't really have one."

The Valkyries strength train on a tiny parcel of stage adjacent to the school's gym. Because space is limited and equipment is shared, many Bigfork athletes can't lift weights on a regular basis.

But Hammond and his athletes don't let Spartan facilities limit their improvement.

"If the kids really want to have success and work hard, I think we've got what we need," Hammond said.

The Valkyries are proud of what they've accomplished, and they're proud of where they've done it. Their gym is cramped, but it is their home, and they went undefeated there this season.

"The kids like our facilities," Hammond said. "The kids love to play in Bigfork because you're in this little gym with people crowded around you, and it's loud and it feels like a huge crowd. I think the kids are proud of what they have, and that's pretty nice."

Hammond said more student-athletes come out for basketball at Bigfork than they do at some larger Class A schools. He said Bigfork's students aren't shying away from athletics, even though the school has generally struggled lately.

"I think the kids that we have - they want to compete," Hammond said. "We've had kind of a tough year - for boys sports especially - but our volleyball team competed well last year, went to state.

"I think the kids want to play, and the boys (basketball team) cut kids, too. They don't have any shortage of kids that want to play."

Hammond believes the Valkyries' confident play stems partly from a recent shift in his coaching philosophy. He used to tell his players what other teams do well and how they should react to them. Now his message is dynamic rather than reactive: "We're better, and we need to do our thing, and we're going to win."

Hammond said his affirmative approach builds the Valkyries' confidence, assuring them he has faith in their ability.

"I try to do that more than scare them into playing hard," Hammond said.

Hammond kept his athletes motivated throughout a close conference title race with Columbia Falls by reminding them Bigfork had never won a Northwestern A title. And while they shouldn't need any extra incentive in Belgrade, Hammond can remind the Valkyries that future trips to the state tournament aren't guaranteed.

"We've talked about making it count," Hammond said. "We definitely need to make it count when we go because we have found it's hard to go. I think they feel like they'll go again next year, but they've never been there before, so we've talked about making it count as far as not just showing up there and expecting it to be an every year type deal. We need to actually compete and make it worth our time."

Prior state tournament experience can benefit teams, but Bigfork's coaches are counting on the Valkyries to be more enthusiastic in Belgrade than the tournament's traditional powers.

"We said, 'All these teams that you hear so much about, like Anaconda and Miles City - we've got to remember that those teams have heard about us,'" Hammond said. "'We can't walk in the gym and be awestruck by these other teams. We have to realize that we're going to be just as big, just as fast, and that we belong there. We've been ranked third in the state all year, so we belong with those other teams. We're not showing up just happy to be there. We have to make sure we're going there expecting to win.'"

In addition to seniors Jamie Halliday, Carly Hilley and Kaemyn Meagher, Bigfork has a core of juniors in Charlene Miller, Hattie Bowen, Avery Vogel, Alyssa Fierro and Jaylee Haveman, who are accustomed to victory. Sophomores Roxy Thurman and Quindee Averill contribute, too.

"I think part of their confidence comes from junior high," Hammond said. "That has helped them stay with it. We still have five juniors in the program, and they've stuck with it, and I think that's because they are used to winning."

Hammond said Bigfork's rise is also due to his athletes' work ethic.

"Physically, I see some improvement, and that's with the speed and strength program we've gotten those kids into," Hammond said. "I've noticed that those junior girls have gotten a lot stronger. Pretty much all of them are in that speed and strength class. The injuries have been fewer, and they just seem stronger, so that's really helped."

As the Valkyries rode their bus home from Eureka on Feb. 17 after winning the divisional tournament, they realized Hilley, Halliday and Meagher were among the first groups to participate in Bigfork's defunct "Future Stars" basketball program, held in the school gym on Saturday mornings during basketball season.

"This senior class would have been seventh graders when we started doing this, and they remember back to when the varsity couldn't win many games," Hammond said. "But the kids were coming to the games, and they were getting introduced in the starting lineups, and got to wear (Bigfork basketball) T-shirts, and I think we kept the enthusiasm through those lean years that way."