Wildkats clip Vals in OT

Bigfork suffers first conference loss

COLUMBIA FALLS - The Northwestern A title chase is on.

Four Wildkats scored in double figures Friday night as the Columbia Falls High School girls basketball team avenged its only conference loss, edging visiting Bigfork in overtime, 58-53.

With their first conference defeat, the Valkyries join Columbia Falls as Northwestern A's lone one-loss teams. The Wildkats improved to 6-1 in conference play and 8-5 overall while Bigfork dropped to 8-1 in Northwestern A play and 11-2 overall.

Bigfork won the teams' first meeting last month when Hattie Bowen nailed a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left in the game.

The rematch was just as thrilling, but this time it was Columbia Falls senior guard Mary Nolan providing the dramatic trey. Nolan's 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 52 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Wildkats a three-point lead and helped calm the team's nerves.

"Mary got that big three, and when you get on the board, then you're just maintaining composure and taking care of the basketball," said Columbia Falls coach Kris Salonen. "Basically, the ball is in your court, and you have control of the game. Being up three instead of two is a big deal."

The final five-point scoring differential matched the largest lead of the game for either team.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Ladenburg led Columbia Falls with a game-high 15 points. Senior guard Amber Lampman added 12 points, followed by senior guards Jessica Boyer and Callie Spencer, who chipped in with 10 apiece.

"It's definitely a great feeling," Ladenburg said. "We played them the first (conference) game of the season, and we felt like we could have won that game, and it's just great to win this one, especially with first place up for grabs."

Columbia Falls led 29-28 at halftime, but entered the fourth quarter trailing by one point. The Wildkats made just one field goal in the final frame of regulation, but sank eight free-throw attempts to force overtime.

The game was played at a furious pace, but Columbia Falls had enough stamina to score eight points in overtime against the taller Valkyries.

"That's what we've been working for," Nolan said. "We've been running in practice a ton to get ready for this because we know that we don't have a lot of height, so we know that we need our speed."

The Wildkats made 23 of 33 free-throw attempts on the night (69.7 percent) while Bigfork struggled from the foul line, converting just 10 of its 21 free throws (47.6 percent).

It was Columbia Falls' first game since 5-foot-10 senior forward Beth Karper tore her right ACL last week, ending her season and leaving the Wildkats with no athlete over 5-8.

"We got a new offense that we were focusing on - trying to get more penetration and an inside-outside game rather than just getting it to the post, because we don't have a lot of height," Ladenburg said.

Bigfork out-rebounded Columbia Falls 33-28, but the Wildkats held Bigfork's 6-2 post Alyssa Fierro to seven points. Columbia Falls played zone defense most of the night, double-teaming Fierro, and only playing man-to-man when the talented junior was resting on the bench.

Junior Jaylee Haveman came off the bench to lead Bigfork with 13 points, including nine in the first half.

"She's a great offensive player," said Bigfork coach Nate Hammond. "She's a kid, who when she gets the ball in the right spot and is in the right situation, she's as tough an offensive player as we have.

"She played well on the offensive end and had a good game tonight, but nobody wins when we lose."

The Valkyries lost despite an 11-point effort by junior Charlene Miller and 10 points from Bowen. Hammond said Columbia Falls did nothing defensively to surprise his players - the Wildkats simple played hard and executed well.

"They were aggressive enough that they could double-team our guards and still get back and double-team our post, it felt like," Hammond said. "We just didn't execute offensively and make them pay for playing aggressive defense."

Columbia Falls committed just 12 turnovers, including two in the second half. But the Wildkats harassed the Valkyries defensively, forcing 23 turnovers in a game that was as hard-fought as Hammond expected it to be.

"We figured it was going to be a close game and that they were going to force the speed of the game and try to force us into some turnovers, and they did that tonight," Hammond said.

Bigfork looks to resume its winning ways when it entertains Frenchtown tonight at 6:30 in a non-conference game. The Valkyries resume conference play Feb. 3 at Polson.

"I don't think that we're out, I don't think that we're buried," Hammond said. "We still have a chance to win the division, and we can still win a lot of games, but we've got to do a better job of making shots."

The Wildkats jump right back into Northwestern A play when they visit Ronan today at 6 p.m.

"This was a small step," Salonen said. "This was definitely a good win, and it put us in a great position, but we've still got the rest of the conference to play here. We've still got five other teams to play, and we've got to keep winning because Bigfork is not going to lay down and die."

Bigfork 15 13 13 9 3 - 53

Columbia Falls 12 17 11 10 8 - 58

BIGFORK (11-2, 8-1) - Charlene Miller 5 1-2 11, Roxy Thurman 2 0-3 4, Hattie Bowen 3 4-4 10, Avery Vogel 1 1-4 3, Carly Hilley 2 1-2 5, Alyssa Fierro 3 1-2 7, Jaylee Haveman 5 2-4 13. Totals 21 10-21 53.

COLUMBIA FALLS (8-5, 6-1) - Callie Spencer 3 4-6 10, Amber Lampman 3 4-6 12, Jessica Boyer 2 5-6 10, Mary Nolan 2 2-3 7, Alyssa Ladenburg 4 6-8 15, Sam Ladenburg 1 2-4 4. Totals 15 23-33 58.

3-point goals - BF 1 (Haveman 1), CF 5 (Lampman 2, Boyer 1, Nolan 1, A. Ladenburg 1). Rebounds - BF 33, CF 28. Assists - BF NA, CF 5. Steals - BF NA, CF 7. Turnovers - BF 23, CF 12. Total fouls - BF 21, CF 18. Fouled out - BF 2 (Bowen, Vogel), CF 1 (Spencer).