Valkyries advance to battle for championship

The Valkyries didn't have their best game of the season, but they did enough to get the job done Friday night when they took out Florence 56-40 in the semifinal round of the Western B Divisional Tournament in Pablo.

It was a 22-point second quarter that contributed the most to Bigfork's victory. Junior guard Caitlin Charlebois scored eight points in the period and Quinci Paine and Taylor Peck each added five.

In the opening moments of the final period, with the Bigfork holding a 44-29 lead, tragedy struck the Vals. Peck, a sophomore guard, jumped up to grab her own rebound off of a missed jumper and came down in excruciating pain with her arms wrapped around her left knee. She was carried to the bench where trainers examined her knee, but were unsure of the severity of the injury.

The Vals played on though, and senior post Kailey Fierro led a late fourth-quarter attack, scoring six of the team's 12 points in the final period, while Florence put in 11.

Charlebois had a game-high 17 points and Paine backed her up with 14. Though her game was cut short, Peck was still the third highest scorer for Bigfork with 10 points.

The Vals play the champions of the last weekend's District 6B Tournament, Loyola, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27.