Vals chase a championship

Most athletes remember losses more clearly than they do victories. They can remember each play, every move they made and every second in vivid detail.

But it's not often someone takes a win as badly as the Bigfork Valkyries basketball team did on Jan. 25.

The Valkyries defeated host St. Ignatius 44-33 that night.

Most people would have left the Mission gym with big smiles on their faces.

But the Vals (20-1, 10-0) weren't impressed with themselves.

"It felt a lot closer than that," said junior point guard Taylor Peck.

They'd crushed Mission 51-9 in Bigfork just a few weeks earlier and their average margin of victory all season long has been right around 30 points per game.

"(That game) kind of refocused us," said senior Mallery Knoll.

They took that 11-point win as such an affront that they left no doubt when they walloped Mission 53-19 in the District 7B championship game last Saturday in Libby.

"That was neat for me to hear and see. They took (the Jan. 25 game) as a defeat. They came out with revenge on their minds," said Bigfork coach Mark Hansen.

The No. 3-ranked Vals are at the Western B Divisional this week at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo. The top two teams advance to the Class B state tournament March 3-5 in Butte.

It's safe to say Bigfork isn't taking anything for granted.

"We've been winning by a significant amount, but everything now is going to be close," Knoll said.

The Vals have one loss on the season - to Class A Anaconda in the second game of the season. Team members also have sour memories of their 0-2 state experience last year.

"We should have beat Fairfield. We should have beat Columbus," said senior Quinci Paine.

"We haven't won a single game at state. As soon as (we win a game), we can do anything," she added.

The Vals are built around six core players - seniors Knoll, Caitlin Charlebois, and Paine and juniors McKinze Shults, Melissa VanDerVeer and Peck.

This is a non-superstar team built on speed, quickness, hard work, smarts - and friendship.

There is no distinction between classes and the Vals pride themselves on their compatibility.

"We all have the same rhythm," Shults said.

"You can't take one person away. You have to have five people to guard us," Charlebois said.

"I've been spoiled," Hansen said.

"This core group of girls that I've had ... we've ridden their determination and their work ethic to the point we are now," he said.

"They try really hard to stay focused and play the game the way it is meant to be played," he said.

"I think on the court we work off each other really well," Charlebois said.

When one team member is having a rough night, others are ready to step up their games. And when one person is having a great night, the rest are the first to applaud.

"It's easy when you share the same goals.You can't really be jealous of a win," Charlebois said.

"Every week we come to practice with new goals," Hansen said. "They buy into it. I have more sets with these girls than with any boys team I've had."

Some girls have known one another since kindergarten and have played together since Rotary Basketball in elementary school.

"This is the team we've been waiting for. We're all such good friends," Peck said.

"We all know what we're supposed to be doing," she smiled.

"Even when we're not playing basketball, we're still really close," Paine agreed.

"And yet they know how to have fun. They love each other. The bus trips are hilarious. They have a great time," Hansen smiled.

"We know when to have fun and when to be serious. But we all want (a state championship) just as bad. We will do anything to get there," Knoll said.

"I feel like we owe it to each other ... and to coach Hansen," VanDerVeer said.

"We want to do this for each other. We can't let each other down ... we're that close," Knoll said.

"We realize anything can happen. But we are confident. Anything less than state will be a disappointment," Knoll said.