Rough ending

Havre rallies to beat Northwestern A champ Bigfork, 41-39

HAMILTON - They don't get much tougher to swallow.

The Bigfork Valkyries lost a 41-39 first-round heartbreaker at the Class A girls' basketball state tournament on Thursday afternoon as Havre rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit.

After their seemingly comfortable cushion slipped away, the Valkyries stormed back from a late six-point hole, only to see their title hopes vanish with a missed turnaround jumper at the final buzzer.

Northwestern A champion Bigfork (19-2) couldn't have scripted a better start to its second straight state tournament. The Valkyries smothered the Blue Ponies throughout a 12-2 first quarter and dominated them on the boards, 21-11, in the first half while building a 26-16 lead.

The Valkyries twice led by 14 points in the second quarter, but the speedy Blue Ponies caught fire after the break, penetrating Bigfork's zone defense during a 13-2 third-quarter run that gave them their first advantage, 29-28.

Central A runner-up Havre (16-6) took the lead for good, 32-30, on Katie Mariani's 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left in the third frame.

A 5-foot-7 senior, Mariani hit three treys en route to 14 third-quarter points after Havre went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc in the first half. Mariani finished with a game-high 20 points, sending the Blue Ponies to today's 6:30 p.m. semifinal against Southwestern A champion Anaconda, which is the only other team to beat Bigfork this season.

The Valkyries head to today's 12:30 p.m. loser-out contest against defending state champion Miles City. Bigfork, which took fourth at state last year, can still finish as high as third, but Saturday's consolation game appeared an unlikely goal after the Valkyries overwhelmed the Blue Ponies for the first 16 minutes.

Senior forward Jaylee Haveman got Bigfork rolling, scoring three quick field goals to give the Valkyries a 6-0 lead. The Valkyries shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half while holding Havre to 21.4 percent.

Alyssa Fierro led Bigfork with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-2 senior post blocked three shots, and her fourth-quarter steal led to a Roxy Thurman layup, bringing the Valkyries within one point, 40-39, with 30 seconds to play.

Junior guard Hope Hedges hit one of two free throws to put Havre up by two, 41-39, with 24.6 seconds remaining. The Valkyries had a chance to win the game, or force overtime on their final possession, but they struggled to find an open look before Fierro took a pass near the foul line with her back to the basket and had just enough time to turn and fire the ball off the rim as the buzzer blared.

A junior guard, Thurman had seven points, four assists and three rebounds, while senior guard Avery Vogel tallied 10 boards, five assists and three points. Senior guard Hattie Bowen notched five points, including Bigfork's lone 3-pointer.

Havre's man-to-man defense held Bigfork without a field goal in the third quarter. The Valkyries shot 30.8 percent (4-for-13) in the second half while committing 10 of their 21 turnovers. The Blue Ponies connected on eight of 17 second-half shots (47.1 percent) to offset their rough outing from the foul line (10-for-23).

"I think Havre heated up a bit," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "I think they got comfortable in our zone. They got a few shots to go down, and that helped them get warm, helped them get some momentum.

"We kind of got real stagnant there in the third and fourth quarters and kind of let them get back in it. We just weren't able to get the number of shots up. They shot a lot more - got a lot more shots off, got a lot more free throws."

Steph Stremcha and Hayley Donovan added six points apiece for Havre, which fell to Bigfork in loser-out play at last year's state tournament in Belgrade. The Blue Ponies committed just four turnovers in each half.

Bigfork held a significant height advantage, but Havre's quick transition game favored the Blue Ponies, whose tallest player is 5-9.

"I think that probably was something," Hammond said of fatigue becoming a factor. "Maybe we didn't go deep enough. But I'll say this: The last minute or so, we were coming after them and we had every bit as much energy as they did.

"They just made enough free throws when they counted, and we weren't able to get the one down at the end."

Fierro scored four points in the final two minutes, but Bigfork didn't register its first field goal of the second half until Vogel's bucket with 2:41 to play.

Fierro pulled the Valkyries within two points, 37-35, on a short leaner with 1:52 to go, and her next bucket brought Bigfork within one, 38-37, 43 seconds later.

"At the end, we were getting what we wanted," Hammond said. "In the third and fourth quarters, we weren't getting what we wanted at all.

"We weren't getting good looks at the basket. We were a little disorganized against their man-to-man, and just weren't very patient. We were trying to get real quick ones and not getting real good ones, so they were able to creep back in it that way."

Haveman, who finished with eight points, two boards and a steal, said Bigfork's execution didn't match its desire down the stretch.

"I think we kind of got a little fuzzy in the head there at the end," she said. "We were getting a little aggravated, and it was just tough.

"I mean, we all wanted it - we could see it in each other's eyes. It was right at our fingertips, but we just couldn't do it."

Hammond said the Valkyries' post-game conversation was simple.

"We talked about winning a trophy," he said. "We talked about that in the locker room, and we can get back to where we were last year in a third- and fourth-place game and give ourselves a chance to win it this year and bring home a trophy. We still have that opportunity."

According to Haveman, Bigfork has too much pride to exit the tournament quietly.

"We're not just gonna stop because we lost one game," she said. "We've just got to stay in it and keep fighting. That's what the Vals are about."

Bigfork 12 14 4 9 - 39

Havre 2 14 16 9 - 41

BIGFORK (19-2) - Emily Hardman 0-0 2-2 2, Hattie Bowen 2-4 0-1 5, Avery Vogel 1-4 1-2 3, Roxy Thurman 1-5 5-6 7, Alyssa Fierro 6-13 1-2 13, Kailey Fierro 0-0 1-2 1, Jaylee Haveman 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 14-31 10-15 39.

HAVRE (16-6) - Sarah Blessum 0-2 0-0 0, Tricia Samson 1-6 1-3 3, Hope Hedges 1-5 1-3 3, Katie Mariani 7-18 3-10 20, Stacey Sheppard 0-0 1-2 1, Steph Stremcha 2-5 2-2 6, Jenna McCann 1-6 0-0 2, Hayley Donovan 2-3 2-3 6. Totals 14-45 10-23 41.

3-point goals - BF 1-2 (Bowen 1-2), Hav. 3-17 (Mariani 3-11, Hedges 0-3, Blessum 0-1, Samson 0-1, McCann 0-1). Rebounds - BF 36 (A. Fierro 12, Vogel 11, Thurman 3, Haveman 2, Hardman, K. Fierro, team 6), Hav. 22 (Mariani 4,

Stremcha 4, Sheppard 3, McCann 3, Donovan 2, Samson, Hedges, team 4). Assists - BF 10 (Vogel 5, Thurman 4, A. Fierro), Hav. 5 (Hedges 2, Samson, Mariani, Donovan). Blocks - BF 4 (A. Fierro 3, Vogel), Hav. 1 (Mariani). Steals - BF 6 (A. Fierro 2, Vogel, Bowen, Thurman, Haveman), Hav. 14 (Samson 3, Hedges 3, Mariani 3, Donovan 3, Stremcha, McCann). Turnovers - BF 21, Hav. 8. Total fouls - BF 19, Hav. 12. Fouled out - Bowen.

Anaconda 64,

Miles City 46

HAMILTON (AP) - Torry Hill scored 20 points Thursday to lead Anaconda to a 64-46 victory over Miles City in the opening game of the state Class A girls' basketball tournament.

Hill hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Copperheads (20-1) jumped out to a 17-6 lead after the first eight minutes and never trailed.

Ali Hurley scored eight of her 15 points in the fourth quarter for Anaconda, which shot 60 percent from the field.

Kaycee Cooley scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds for Miles City (18-3) while Torrie Cahill added 11 points and six rebounds and Kalli Durham had 10 points and four steals.

Anaconda 64, Miles City 46

Miles City 6 13 12 15 - 46

Anaconda 17 13 12 22 - 64

MILES CITY (18-3) - M. Gillette 3-5 0-0 7, Cahill 5-9 1-2 11, A. Mader 1-3 0-0 3, Steadman 1-7 0-0 3, Cooley 5-11 2-7 12, L. Gillette 0-1 0-0 0, Maki 0-0 0-0 0, Durham 4-7 2-7 10, Magnuson 0-1 0-3 0, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, R. Mader 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-44 5-19 46.

ANACONDA (20-1) - Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, King 2-3 4-4 8, Hill 6-11 4-5 20, Hurley 6-10 3-4 15, Laslovich 2-3 3-9 9, Austin 0-0 0-0 0, Flynn 4-6 0-0 9, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0, Galle 0-0 0-0 0, Krumm 1-2 0-0 2, Wagner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-35 15-24 64.

3-point goals-Miles City 3-12 (M. Gillette 1-2, A. Mader 1-3, Steadman 1-3, L. Gillette 0-1, Durham 0-2), Anaconda 7-14 (Hill 4-7, Laslovich 2-2, Flynn 1-2, King 0-1, Hurley 0-2). Fouled out-Cahill, Krumm. Total fouls-Miles City 19, Anaconda 18. Rebounds-Miles City 31 (Cooley 7), Anaconda 21 (Laslovich 5).