Vals perfect in N'western Agirls basketball play

The Daily Inter Lake

BIGFORK - They're still unbeaten in the Northwestern A.

Post Alyssa Fierro matched a season-high with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds Friday night and Avery Vogel tallied seven rebounds, six assists and three points as the Bigfork High School girls basketball team beat Libby, 55-41.

Tied 8-8 heading into the second quarter, Fierro scored six of her points as the Vals rode an 18-9 run into halftime.

"We turned it over quite a bit early because they extended pressure out on our guards," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "But that allowed us to get the ball into Alyssa (Fierro). Plus she did a good job of getting herself open."

Ahead 38-27 going into the fourth, Fierro scored nine of her points in the final frame to keep the Vals distanced.

Charlene Miller added eight points and Charly Hilley had six in the win. The Vals are now 7-0 in conference and 10-1 overall.

Jackie Mee and Brittany Martin combined for 27 points in the loss. Libby fell to 1-6 in conference and 4-7 overall.

Libby 8 9 10 14 - 41

Bigfork 8 18 12 17 - 55

LIBBY (4-7, 1-6) - Brooke Hageness 0 1-2 1, Holly Cerian 1 0-0 2, Korey Kulbeck 2 0-0 5, Brittany Martin 4 3-4 12, Laice Dedrick 2 0-1 4, Jackie Mee 5 3-6 15, Nichole Newman 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-13 41.

BIGFORK (10-1, 7-0) - Jamie Halliday 2 0-0 4, Roxy Thurman 1 0-0 2, Hattie Bowen 2 0-0 5, Charlene Miller 4 0-0 8, Avery Vogel 1 1-2 3, Carly Hilley 2 1-2 6, Alyssa Fierro 8 7-12 23, Jaylee Haveman 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 9-16 55.

3-point goals - Lib. 4 (Kulbeck, Martin, Mee 2), Bgf. 2 (Bowen, Hilley). Total fouls - Lib. 13, Bgf. 14. Fouled out - none.

Polson 41, Whitefish 26

POLSON - Junior post Merilee Mowbray scored a career-high 12 points and had eight rebounds as the Pirates' man-to-man defense stifled Whitefish into one fourth-quarter point and seven second-half points in the Northwestern A victory.

The Pirates improved to 4-3 in conference and 4-8 overall.

Amanda James and Jaelin Vandeberg shared the duties of manning the conference's leading scorer in Ashley Ferda and held her to 13 points.

"It took us a couple of games to get back into being aggressive on defense after the break, but the girls are starting to get back into it," Polson assistant coach Dianna Hughes said. "We also had help-side defense and that is a big part of what we're trying to do."

Brittany Gardner and Vandeberg added seven points apiece in the victory.

The game was a matchup of teams with identical records. Ahead 19-18 at the half, Whitefish fell to 3-4 in conference and 3-9 overall.

Whitefish 7 12 6 1 - 26

Polson 6 12 16 7 - 41

WHITEFISH (3-9, 3-4) - Kaitlin O'Leary 2 1-4 5, Ashley Ferda 5 2-2 13, Callie Schmidt 0 1-2 1, Desiree Clarke 0 1-2 1, Dana Labuda 1 1-2 3, Kate Klundt 1 1-1 3. Totals 9 7-13 26.

POLSON (4-8, 4-3) - Brittany Gardner 2 3-4 7, Amanda James 0 0-0 0, Jessica Buckless 2 0-0 5, Merilee Mowbray 6 0-0 12, Jaelin Vandeberg 3 0-2 7, Lisa Mathias 1 3-5 5, Rochelle Woods 0 1-2 1, Sarah Newton 1 0-0 2, Cali Hislop 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 7-13 41.

3-point goals - Wht. 1 (Ferda), Pol. 2 (Buckless, Vandeberg). Total fouls - Wht. 13, Pol. 13. Fouled out - none.

Flathead Valley Home 57

Great Falls Home 18

GREAT FALLS - Jessica Kirkland and Danae Sheeran shared scoring honors with 12 points each as Flathead Valley Home School drubbed Great Falls Home School Friday night to stay perfect on the girls basketball season.

The Lady Crusaders (15-0) led 20-4 after eight-minutes of play and 38-6 at the half.

Flathead Valley plays today at 10 a.m. in Vaughn versus Foothills Community Christian School.

Flathead Valley 20 18 10 9 - 57

Great Falls 4 2 8 4 - 18

Flathead Valley Home School (15-0) - Charity Zemke 1 4-4 6, Jessica Kirkland 6 0-0 12, Danae Sheeran 5 2-6 12, Carmen VanBuren 4 0-0 8, Janelle Sheeran 0 1-2 1, Hannah Rajkowski 1 0-0 2, Jenna Sladek 2 0-2 4, Kelsey Sladek 3 0-0 6, Reba Price 3 0-0 6. Totals: 25 7-12 57.

Great Falls Home School - Kaitlyn Ryan 1 0-0 2, Debbie Schendel 4 0-0 8, Jessica Eckhart 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Holmquist 2 0-0 4, Janessa Bears 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 0-2 18.

3-point goals - None. Team fouls - Flathead Valley 8, Great Falls 12. Fouled out - None.

Boys

Eureka 59, Troy 35

TROY - Tony Boka's 13 points led a balanced offensive attack for Eureka, which downed Troy Friday in boys non-conference basketball play.

Eureka (9-1, 5-1) had 10 players score in the game.

Troy was led by Carey Keener, 14 points, and Aaron Palmer, 12.

Spencer Sartori led Eureka in rebounding with four, Isiah Linnell had five steals and five assists to lead in those categories.

"Overall, our effort was pretty good, pretty well balanced," said Eureka coach Eric Stang.

"In the first half, we were a little indecisive with our shot selection. In the second half, we did a better job."

Eureka is back in action tonight at Bigfork, 6:30, in Northwestern A play.

Eureka 17 16 12 20 - 59

Troy 8 4 17 6 - 35

Eureka (9-1, 5-1) - Clete DeShazer 2 1-1 6, Zach Richter 1 2-4 4, Mattie Longfield 1 1-2 4, Tony Boka 6 1-3 13, Tanner Newell 0 1-2 1, John Davis 2 0-0 4, Devon Miller 3 0-0 6, Austin Robbins 2 0-0 4, Spencer Sartori 4 0-0 8, Isiah Linnell 4 1-2 9. Totals: 25 7-18 59.

Troy - Keith Stonkson 1 0-0 2, Carey Keener 6 0-2 14, Chance Bracht 1 1-1 3, Erick Miller 1 0-0 2, Aaron Palmer 5 2-6 12, Matt Rodgers 1 0-2 2. Totals: 15 3-11 35.

3-point goals - DeShazer, Longfield; Keener (2). Team fouls - Eureka 10, Troy 14. Fouled out - E. Miller.

Whitefish 53, Polson 36

WHITEFISH - Colt Idol scored 16 points and Aaron Tkachyk added 12 as the Whitefish Bulldogs downed visiting Polson in a Northwestern A Friday matchup.

"We played extremely well tonight. I was really pleased with the intensity the kids came out with," said Bulldog head coach Julio Delgado.

"We played a good all-around game. It was a team effort," he added.

Whitefish led 22-14 at half, then outscored the Pirates 19-7 in the third period.

"We talked at half about the importance of coming out the first three minutes with a lot of intensity," Delgado said.

"We wanted to make sure Polson didn't come back and get back in the game. We made a couple adjustments to the ball inside against their 2-3 zone," he added.

The coach complimented Tkachyk's effort.

"He's been the key to our success."

Delgado also complimented Jamie Clogg, David FauntleRoy and Dane Sjoden for their inside play.

The Bulldogs (3-9, 3-4) are off until Friday, when they play host to Libby.

Polson 4 10 7 15 - 36

Whitefish 9 13 19 12 - 53

Polson - Craig Bagnell 2 2-2 7, John Rausch 4 0-0 9, Chris Ogle 2 0-0 4, Tyler Gordon 1 0-0 2, Ryan Kelley 1 0-1 2, Zach Langston 4 4-4 12. Totals 14 6-7 36.

Whitefish - Kenny Overcast 1 0-1 2, Aaron Tkachyk 4 2-3 12, Luke Fennelly 2 3-4 7, Colt Idol 6 2-2 16, Jamie Clogg 3 2-3 8, Jake Smith 1 0-0 2, Dane Sjoden 2 0-2 4, David FauntleRoy 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 9-17 53.

3-point goals - Bagnell, Rausch 1; Tkachyk (2), Idol (2). Total fouls - Polson 17, Whitefish 13. Fouled out - Ogle.

Libby 50, Bigfork 47

LIBBY - Libby used a 13-point fourth quarter to overcome a slight halftime deficit and defeat visiting Bigfork on Friday.

Joel Fuller led the Loggers with 16 points in the Northwestern A battle. Kyle Baker added 15 and Jim Mee 11.

The Vikings also had three players in double digits. Justin Goode netted 16 points, followed by Andrew Whittaker at 11 and Roland Benedict with 10.

Bigfork 11 13 7 16 - 47

Libby 9 12 13 16 - 50

Bigfork - Justin Goode 8 0-2 16, Andrew Whittaker 4 3-3 11, Roland Benedict 4 0-0 10, John White 1 0-0 2, Kainoa Lake 3 2-3 8. Totals 20 5-8 47.

Libby - Zach Rowan 1 0-0 2, Neil Young 0 2-2 2, Kyle Baker 7 0-0 15, Jim Mee 3 4-4 11, Joel Fuller 6 4-5 16, Charley May 1 0-0 2, Nick Broden 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 10-11 50.

3-point goals - Benedict (2); Baker, Mee. Total fouls - Bigfork 14, Libby 12. Fouled out - Goode.