Valkyries romp in Western B opener

PABLO — Bigfork used a 37-point second half to blow by Valley Christian for a 66-30 opening-round victory at the Western B divisional girls basketball tournament on Thursday.

Bigfork (18-3) led by 10 points at intermission, 29-19, but defensively clamped down on Valley Christian (13-10) after that, holding the Eagles to 11 points in the final half.

“We came out and had a nice spurt after halftime,” Bigfork coach Mark Hansen said.

“Our pressure kind of wore them down. Our ball pressure was key. We had some nice steals.”

Quinci Paine sparked the Valkyries’ offense to begin the third period by scoring six points in the first 90 seconds. She finished with eight points for the game.

“I thought we made some adjustments defensively,” Hansen said at halftime.

“They hurt us in the first half with some 3 balls and their post girl (Beth Kesler) had six points. Kailey (Fierro) and Lila (Cenis) did a nice job in the second half holding her down.”

Kesler scored only three points in the second half, all from the free throw line. 

Caitlin Charlebois scored nine of her game-high 18 points in the opening quarter for Bigfork. She also had three assists.

“She was real steady throughout the game,” Hansen said.

 Mallery Knoll had 14 points for Bigfork, eight coming in the second half.

Knoll led the Valkyries in assists and steals with six each.

Cenis and Fierro shared the rebounding lead with six apiece.

Bigfork was deadly from the free throw line, hitting 15 of 18 foul shots. Kristen Woll led the way at the charity stripe by going 4-for-4.

The Valkyries, ranked No. 8 in Class B, advance to semifinal play today at 4 p.m. against Florence (16-5), who stopped St. Ignatius 48-33 on Thursday in a first-round contest.

 “Two teams that like to pressure the ball,” Hansen said of the matchup with Florence.

“Who ever takes care of the ball will come out on top.”

Eureka dropped its opening game to Deer Lodge 58-47.

Deer Lodge (14-9) led 18-12 and 38-22 after the first two periods.

Both teams struggled through a low-scoring fourth period which saw Deer Lodge scoring six points and Eureka four.

The Lions (11-10) were led Steph Vogelman’s 27 points. She scored 12 points in the third period when the Lions tallied 20.

“She had a heckuva game,” Eureka coach John Hammond said of Vogelman.

“Her and Cassidy Morgan both had seven rebounds each.”

Eureka managed to get within six points of Deer Lodge in the fourth quarter, “but we didn’t have enough to finish,” Hammond said.

“Giving up 38 in the first half was a big deal.”

Carly Hammond led Eureka in assists with seven.

Eureka drops into a loser-out contest today versus Thompson Falls at 9:30 a.m.

Also on Thursday, Missoula Loyola crushed Thompson Falls 65-21.

Loyola and Deer Lodge meet in semifinal play tonight at 5:30 p.m.

Bigfork     19     10     17     20     –     66

Valley Christian     11     8     6     5     –     30

BIGFORK (18-3) – Mallery Knoll 6 2-3 14, Quinci Paine 4 0-0 8, Lila Cenis 2 1-1 5, Taylor Peck 3 3-4 9, Caitlin Charlebois 7 3-4 18, Kristen Woll 0 4-4 4, McKinze Shultz 0 0-0 0, Holly MacFarlane 0 0-0 0, Kristen Campbell 0 0-0 0, Melissa VanDerveer 2 0-0 4, Kailey Fierro 1 2-2 4, Jessica Killian 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 15-18 66.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN (13-10) – Hollyn Wittmier 2 0-0 6, Beth Kesler 3 3-6 9, Kayla Bullock 0 0-0 0, Heidi Cross 2 0-1 4, Kaylee Velin 1 0-0 2, Tessa Pearson 0 0-0 0, Mariah Denman 0 0-1 0, Angela Bohlken 0 0-0 0, Charisa Ireland 4 1-2 9. Totals 12 4-10 30.

3-point goals – Bigfork 1 (Charlebois), Valley Christian 2 (Wittmier 2). Total fouls – Bigfork 14, Valley Christian 16. Fouled out – none.

Florence 48, St. Ignatius 33

Florence     10     13     10     15     –     48

St. Ignatius     10     7     10     6     –     33

FLORENCE (16-5) – Brittany Heinz 4 3-8 11, Abby Mytty 2 3-4 8, Odessa Conley 1 7-12 9, Courtney Byrne 1 1-2 3, Rosie O’Brien 5 2-4 13, Kayla Johnson 1 1-2 3, Jill Harris 0 0-0 0, Shelby Fisk 0 0-0 0, Grace Zeiler 0 0-0 0, Grace Kollman 0 0-0 0, Cody Miller 0 0-0 0, Mariah Richtmyer 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 18-34 48.

ST. IGNATIUS (11-12) – Kyla Mitchell 3 0-0 6, Adessa Durglo 0 0-0 0, Rachel Jensen 2 0-0 0, Katie McDonald 5 1-1 13, Bella Dally 1 4-4 7, Ashley Courville 1 1-2 3, Dalena Weaselhead 0 0-0 0, Lyssia McDonald 0 0-0 0, Bryanna Steele 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Trudeau 0 0-0 0, Ontgua Mah 0 0-0 0, LaGlen Mitchell 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-7 33.

3-point goals – Florence 2 (Mytty, O’Brien), St. Ignatius 3 (K. McDonald 2). Total fouls – Florence 14, St. Ignatius 19. Fouled out – K. Mitchell.

Deer Lodge 58, Eureka 47

Deer Lodge     18    20    14    6    —    58

Eureka    12    10    21    4    —    47

DEER LODGE — Syd McKee 6 3-4 16, Shelby Applegate 5 1-1 11, Shyanne Anderson 2 0-0 4, Kristin Schalk 2 2-2 6, Andi Lambert 2 2-3 6, Danni Johnson 6 1-1 15. Totals: 23 9-11 58.

EUREKA — Tayler Holder 1 0-0 2, Carly Hammond 0 6-7 6, Selene Elster 3 2-6 8, Courtney Dickinson 1 0-3 2, Cassidy Morgan 1 0-1 2, Steph Vogelman 11 5-8 27. Totals: 17 13-25 47.

3-point goals: McKee, Johnson (2); Team fouls: Deer Lodge 18, Eureka 13; Fouled out: None.

Loyola Sacred Heart 65,

Thompson Falls 21

Thompson Falls     5     3     13     0     –     21

Loyola     13     23     17     12     –     65

THOMPSON FALLS – Makayla Becker 0 0-0 0, Beca Gunderson 0 0-0 0, Hannah Peters 0 0-0 0, Karli Cavill 2 3-4 7, Kyla Molzhon 1 4-6 6, Kelsey Fitchett 4 0-0 8, Hope Reid 0 0-0 0, Allison Vaught. Totals 7 7-10 21.

LOYOLA SACRED HEART – Jordan Pfau 3 0-0 8, Alex Anderson 6 2-6 14, Kiernan Haggarty 2 1-2 5, Emma Priddy 3 1-1 7, Alex Lamey 3 0-0 9, Tayler Galiher 4 2-2 10, Colleen Miller 1 0-0 2, Katy Ermatinger 0 1-2 1, Maddie Mansch 0 0-0 0, Brittany Finch 0 2-2 2, Kenzie Reid 1 0-0 3, Ashley Medeiros 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 9-15 65.

3-point goals – T. Falls 0, Loyola 6 (Lamey 3, Pfau 2, Reid). Total fouls – T. Falls 12, Loyola 11. Fouled out – none.