Senior Peck to lead Valkyries at point guard
The Valkyries basketball program has a
lot going for it this year: a returning coach on his fourth year
with the team, the biggest roster lineup the girls have had in
recent memory and one of the most solid summers of preparation
behind them.
Head coach Mark Hansen will be leading
the girls this season along with returning assistant coaches Jim
Epperly, who is coaching the junior varsity, and Trisha Smith, who
is running the freshman team.
“It’s always nice when you get those
kids you’ve had all four years,” Hansen said. “Especially with what
I call my top three — Taylor, McKinze and Mel. Taylor has been
playing varsity since she was a freshman and the other two have
been suiting up for varsity pretty much since the beginning.
Strong start
Hansen’s team consists of 24 players;
nine of who are freshman and four are seniors. Senior Taylor Peck
will be running the team on the floor at point guard in the
beginning, but Hansen plans to move her around to give her
sufficient shooting opportunities. Fellow seniors McKinze Shults
and Melissa VanDerveer will share the job when Peck isn’t in
it.
“All three of those girls are pretty
versatile,” Hansen said. “That’s one of the things I’m really happy
with is that we really moved those girls around a lot when they
were younger and got them used to playing a lot of different
positions.”
A tall order
In recent years the Vals have been
known for their quickness rather than their heighth. However, that
ratio is changing a little this season.
“We went from being really guard heavy
to being really forward heavy,” Hansen said.
The Vals will be looking for consistent
contributions from sophomore Tessa Robertson and junior Shelby
Scoggins underneath the basket.
“Our strength should be our
rebounding,” Hansen said. “I have a lot of girls that are good at
going after the boards. That and defense are going to be our
strengths.”
Filling in the gaps
The Vals are a prime example of using
hard work and dedication to make up for what they lack in other
areas. Over the summer he commented that he had more girls at open
gyms than he has consistently had in the past few years.
“We are not as athletic as we were last
year, but I think basketball IQ-wise we’re as good as we’ve been
since I’ve been here. They really have the ins and outs of the game
down.”
Tough spots
That of course doesn’t mean that they
aren’t without weaknesses.
“We’re a little challenged at getting
the ball in the hole,” Hansen said.
Game on
The Valkyries varsity team starts its
season this weekend with the Northwest/Southwest Tip-off
Tournament. The Bigfork girls play against Stevensville at 4 p.m.
Friday at Whitefish High School. On Saturday, the Vals play Ronan
at 5 p.m. at Columbia Falls High School.
“I have a first team All-conference
(Peck) and a second team All-conference (VanDerveer) player and
that’s as much as any of the other teams in our district have
returning,” Hansen said. “I’m going to have to count on some
juniors to step up. They’re going to have to find their niche. I
have three starters returning. They’re going to be a different team
though. They aren’t going to speed down the court and press as
much. They’re going to have to be more methodical.”