Valkyries advance in loser-out state play

The Daily Inter Lake

Wildkats eliminated by Anaconda, 65-36

BELGRADE - The Valkyries' breakout season is still alive.

The Bigfork High School girls basketball team beat Dillon 47-37 Friday afternoon in a Class A state tournament loser-out game.

Junior post Alyssa Fierro led Bigfork with 13 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Senior Carly Hilley added 12 points for the Valkyries, who led 21-15 at halftime.

Northwestern A No. 1 seed Bigfork improves to 19-3 on the season while Southwestern A No. 2 seed Dillon finishes 15-8.

"The main thing is we really hit our free throws down the stretch," said Bigfork head coach Nate Hammond. "Carly was 10-for-11, Alyssa was 7-for-8, as a team we were 25-for-34. That was the difference in this basketball game."

The Valkyries fell out of championship contention Thursday night when they lost to Glendive, but Hammond was pleased with their response Friday.

"It's really tough to lose, and then you go back to the hotel, and you're in the loser's side of the bracket," Hammond said.

"For the kids to come out today, and the way they started out playing - they really just played as hard defensively as I've ever seen them play. They had it in their minds that we weren't going to go home yet."

Dillon's 6-foot-3 post Hayley Pettit scored 12 points, but 5-foot-10 Bigfork junior Jaylee Haveman limited her damage when Fierro left the game with foul trouble.

"She really did a fine job defensively on the inside," Hammond said.

The Valkyries face Havre in loser-out action at 9:30 this morning. The victor of that game advances to the 6:30 p.m. consolation game to play for third-place honors.

"That's our goal," Hammond said. "As soon as we lost that game (to Glendive), (assistant) coach (Bill) Epperly wrote on the board, 'Let's go for some hardware.'"

Bigfork 12 9 10 16 - 47

Dillon 4 11 12 10 - 37

BIGFORK (19-3) - Hattie Bowen 1-7 0-0 2, Charlene Miller 1-2 1-2 3, Avery Vogel 0-3 4-4 4, Carly Hilley 1-4 10-11 12, Alyssa Fierro 3-6 7-8 13, Roxy Thurman 2-2 2-2 6, Jaylee Haveman 3-5 1-4 7. Totals 11-29 25-34 57.

DILLON (15-8) - Emily Hager 0-4 0-0 0, Shannon Judge 1-4 1-2 3, Bonnie Gardner 2-10 6-8 11, Anna Brammer 1-4 1-2 3, Hayley Pettit 4-14 4-6 12, Whitney Thomas 0-4 0-0 0, Cassie Mury 2-7 0-0 6, Susanne Rehse 0-1 0-0 0, Sheena Dietrich 0-0 0-1 0, Alyse Baker 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 11-52 12-18 37.

3-point goals - Big. 0-1 (Bowen 0-1), Dil. 3-18 (Mury 2-6, Gardner 1-3, Judge 0-1, Hager 0-4, Thomas 0-4). Rebounds - Big. 33 (Fierro 8), Dil. 30 (Pettit 11). Total fouls - Big. 19, Dil. 26. Fouled out - Fierro, Hager, Judge, Brammer.

Anaconda 65,

Columbia Falls 36

The Wildkats faced another powerhouse at the Class A state tournament, and saw their season come to an end.

The Columbia Falls High School girls basketball team fell behind early and never got back on track Friday afternoon, losing to Anaconda 65-36 in loser-out action.

"We got some good looks inside, but they got a couple blocked shots, and we couldn't get some shots to go down," said Columbia Falls coach Kris Salonen. "Then all of a sudden they

got a couple transition buckets off our missed buckets, and all of a sudden, before you know it, you're down 15-5 just like that."

Anaconda led 28-13 at halftime and 51-25 after three quarters.

Senior guards Callie Spencer and Amber Lampman led Columbia Falls with 12 points apiece. The Northwestern A No. 2 seed Wildkats finish 15-9. Columbia Falls lost to Eastern A No. 1 seed Miles City on Thursday.

"We ended up second coming out of our conference, so we got the tough bracket, and we ended up playing the top teams in the state," Salonen said. "Both teams are very good, quality basketball teams. We just struggled. We could never get in sync."

Sammy Barkell led Southwestern A No. 1 seed Anaconda with 13 points. The Copperheads improve to 20-2.

Columbia Falls guard Mary Nolan had five points and five rebounds to cap her solid senior season.

"I think the most important thing is for our kids not to forget what a great season we had," Salonen said. "We were 10-2 in conference and we had a great season. We got to the state tournament and that was the ultimate goal.

"It was a great year, it was a fun year. They were a great group of kids to have - very coachable, respectful - and I think a lot of that has to do with why we were so successful. We all just came together very well."

Columbia Falls 7 6 12 11 - 36

Anaconda 18 10 23 14 - 65

COLUMBIA FALLS (15-9) - Callie Spencer 3-11 6-7 12, Amber Lampman 5-11 0-1 12, Jessica Boyer 0-2 0-0 0, Mary Nolan 1-5 3-5 5, Sam Ladenburg 1-4 2-5 4, Jylisa Fields 0-2 0-0 0, Cedar Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssa Ladenburg 1-6 0-0 2, Sarah Marcille 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 11-43 12-20 36.

ANACONDA (20-2) - Kirstin King 3-3 0-0 7, Cara Laslovich 3-8 0-1 9, Ali Hurley 3-8 4-4 11, Maddy Walker 0-5 1-2 1, Sammy Barkell 5-6 2-2 13, Emma Johnson 2-6 1-1 5, McCall Flynn 1-2 0-0 2, Tori Hill 3-6 2-2 9, Lisa Laslovich 1-5 2-2 4, Kylie Vauthier 1-1 1-2 3, Korey Krumm 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 23-55 13-16 65.

3-point goals - C.F. 2-4 (Lampman 2-2, Fields 0-1, Boyer 0-1), Ana. 6-16 (C. Laslovich 2-4, King 1-1, Barkell 1-2, Hurley 1-3, Hill 1-4, L. Laslovich 0-1, Walker 0-1). Rebounds - C.F. 27 (Spencer 5, Nolan 5, Ladenburg 5), Ana. 40 (Johnson 9).Total fouls - CFalls 17, Anaconda 19. Fouled out - Lampman, C. Laslovich.