Conference title may be decided tonight when Bigfork battles Columbia Falls

Tonight's basketball game between the Bigfork Valkyries and Columbia Falls Wildkats won't officially decide the Northwestern A championship. But it might as well.

The first-place Valkyries boast a sterling 8-0 conference record and 11-1 overall mark. They are the state's third-ranked Class A squad, with their only defeat coming at Class AA Missoula Big Sky last month.

The second-place Wildkats own a 5-1 Northwestern A record. Their lone conference blemish? A 44-41 loss at Bigfork last month in a game that wasn't decided until Bigfork's Hattie Bowen drained a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Columbia Falls is 7-5 overall, but three of its losses came against Class AA Flathead and Missoula Hellgate.

A victory for Bigfork would give the Valkyries a stranglehold on first place with just three conference games to play. A triumph for the Wildkats would put them in the thick of a title hunt with five Northwestern A games remaining.

But tonight's game, which begins at 7:30 in Columbia Falls, isn't about longtime, fierce rivals battling for bragging rights. It's about two outstanding teams and coaches respecting each other's programs, but knowing each other's goals stand in the way of their own.

Columbia Falls coach Kris Salonen and Bigfork coach Nate Hammond are in their sixth seasons with their respective teams. They were both freshman coaches the year before inheriting their varsity programs, meaning they've coached against each other for seven seasons.

Hammond and Salonen are friends. They discuss team morale and injuries, and usually even root for each other. But not tonight.

"We did everything today but wish each other good luck," Hammond said Tuesday of a phone conversation with Salonen. "If anybody was in position to win the conference besides us, we'd like to see it be Kris."

The Valkyries are young, with just one senior starter - Carly Hilley, who handles the ball well and is an excellent rebounder, passer and defender - and three seniors on their roster.

Northwestern A's coaches picked the Wildkats to finish fifth in their preseason poll.

"I honestly believed that we were better than what we were picked," said Salonen of her preseason expectations. "We did really come together as a team, and we've won some big games.

"I knew Bigfork was going to be right there, and I hoped that we'd be there with them."

It wasn't until recently that Bigfork became a major force in the conference.

"This is new," Salonen said. "It's always been Whitefish and Libby. They've always been the ones, and last year it was Polson and Whitefish.

"(Hammond) has been building and working and doing a great job, so in the last few years (the Valkyries) have really started to be competitive. I know he'd love to get his kids to the state tournament."

Hammond knew this would be a special season, but he didn't know his players would be this good, this soon.

"I wanted to win the conference, and I didn't know what it would take to win it," Hammond said. "I still don't know what it will take to win it. I think they're playing better than I thought they would."

Besides their talent and teamwork, Hammond said the Valkyries' greatest asset might be their youth.

"What they do well is they don't tend to panic," Hammond said. "We were down one (point) against Eureka in the fourth quarter (Saturday), and then we went on a 17-0 run. They didn't tighten up and they didn't panic. And I think, a lot of times, younger kids don't. They don't feel there's as much to lose."

But inexperience also poses problems.

"We can go from 12 turnovers one night against a Whitefish team that presses the whole night to 28 turnovers against a Eureka team that doesn't press us at all," Hammond said. "That's some of the inconsistencies that come with young kids."

Bigfork beat Eureka 46-33, thanks largely to Bowen's career-high 19 points. Bigfork's 6-foot-2 junior Alyssa Fierro, who averages 11.8 points and a conference-leading 7.8 rebounds per game, scored just two points against the Lions, but Hammond said his star post couldn't have cared less.

"They don't seem to care who gets the credit," Hammond said. "Alyssa has 23 points one night and two points the next night, and we win and we're happy in the locker room, and I don't see her discouraged or anything."

Bowen's 10.8 point scoring average puts her fifth in the conference, one slot behind Fierro. Junior Avery Vogel leads Bigfork and the conference with 4.3 assists per game.

Charlene Miller is one of Bigfork's top defenders, and chips in offensively by grabbing rebounds and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities.

The Valkyries have plenty of depth with 5-7 sophomore Roxy Thurman and 5-10 junior Jaylee Haveman contributing off the bench.

"Those two players are just as good as any of the five (starters) I put out there," Hammond said.

The Valkyries and Wildkats met three times last season. The teams split two regular-season games, with each squad winning on its own floor, before Bigfork topped Columbia Falls in the divisional tournament.

The Wildkats have been playing well lately. Before losing to Hellgate and Flathead last week, Columbia Falls won five conference games in a row.

The good news for the Wildkats is they boast three of Northwestern A's most prolific scorers in senior guard Callie Spencer (sixth, 10.2 ppg), senior guard Jessica Boyer (seventh, 8.4 ppg) and senior forward Beth Karper (10th, 7.4 ppg). The bad news? Karper - Columbia Falls' tallest athlete at 5-10 - tore her right ACL against Flathead last Friday, ending her season and high school career.

Karper's absence makes defending Fierro a daunting task for the guard-oriented Wildkats.

"The biggest thing for us is, defensively, we have to change things," said Salonen, adding that Columbia Falls played man-to-man defense in its last game against Bigfork as Karper held Fierro to seven points.

Junior post Sam Ladenburg has starting experience and will fill in for Karper.

"That kid's just done some great things," said Salonen of the 5-7 Ladenburg.

Columbia Falls can't match Bigfork's height, but the Wildkats have myriad speedy guards - including 5-4 senior defensive terror Mary Nolan - who look to cause Bigfork trouble.

"Boyer's a good shooter," Hammond said. "If she gets hot she can really hurt us. I think Callie Spencer is, overall, their most well-rounded player."

Spencer is the conference's 10th-best rebounder, snagging 4.7 boards per game. Boyer averages 2.7 steals per contest.

"We worry about Columbia Falls in that they're so aggressive and so quick," Hammond said. "I think for us, it's harder to block out and rebound against smaller kids. I know that sounds weird, but those bigger kids, who are slower, are easier to get a body on."

Bigfork has five athletes who are at least 5-10, but the Valkyries are also quick and well-rounded.

"They still like to pressure the ball, but if (Hammond) has his way, he's going to want to work the ball and run some good quarter-court offense - get the ball inside to Fierro," Salonen said "Each coach is going to want to control the tempo of the game."

The game may end up determining which team wins the conference, but it won't make or break either squad's season.

"We got beat up last week between finals week and playing two AA schools, and I think we're all just looking forward to playing a Class A school, someone in our conference, someone we know, and just getting in the game and having some fun," Salonen said.

Hammond expects the rematch to be as competitive as the teams' first meeting.

"I think it will probably come down to being a close, tough game," Hammond said. "A big shot and a big mistake here by one team might make a difference."