WEB UPDATE: Libby knocks off Vikes, Vals
Tuesday was a disappointing night for Bigfork High School's boys and girls varsity basketball teams as they both narrowly missed beating Libby. The varsity girls lost 43-37 and the boys lost 46-39.
The Vals (9-5, 3-3) kept up with Libby (10-5, 6-2), who is ranked second in the conference, during the first half scoring 10 to their opponent's 11 in the first quarter and nine to their 11 in the second. Although the Vals only trailed by three at the half, they did nothing to help themselves out of the hole in the third quarter, as they put up just four points and allowed Libby to score eight. Bigfork did manage to outscore Libby in the final period, 14-13, but it wasn't enough to undo the damage of the previous quarter.
Senior Roxy Thurman led Bigfork with 15 points and grabbed five rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Mallery Knoll contributed eight points, six of which she put in in the second quarter, and made three assists and four steals. Kailey Fierro led Bigfork in rebounding with seven boards and she scored seven points.
Libby standout Jackie Mee led all scorers with 20 points.
The Bigfork boys, who are last in the Northwest A conference, knew that playing first ranked Libby would be a challenge, and although they played a great game of catch-up, the Vikings ultimately let the win slip through their fingers in the final period.
The Vikes (2-12, 0-6) got off to another slow start scoring just six points while the Loggers scored 10 in the first quarter and nine in the second to Libby's 12. Down by seven at the start of the second half, Bigfork came out swinging and even tied the game up during the third quarter. Brock Boll led the way with 11 of the team's 18 third quarter points, meanwhile Libby put up 16.
Bigfork let their momentum unravel in the fourth quarter. They missed several field goals, five of their seven free throws and were only able to score six points, defensively they held Libby to just eight in the final period.
Boll had a game high 19 points and Jake Milner contributed six for Bigfork.
Libby's standout player on the boys team, Conner Benson put up 16 for his team.
Bigfork's junior varsity boys and girls teams played much more consistent games against Libby, and both came away with wins. The JV Vals won 38-18 and the Vikes won 61-34.
The JV girls game was extremely slow to get going resulting in a half time score of just 13-6, with the Vals leading. Bigfork turned it up in the third quarter and posted 13 points while still holding Libby to six. In the fourth the Vals added another 12 points to their total and Libby again scored just six.
The JV Vikings ended their first half of play with a 29-19 lead of the Loggers. They kept that lead growing over the second half as they outscored Libby 16-7 in the third quarter and 16-8 in the fourth.
Bigfork sophomore guard Carter Sorenson had a big game, putting up 20 points , including a 3-pointer in the firth quarter and three more in the fourth.