Girls net experience in tip-off tourney
Moving up the learning curve was the name of the games for Bigfork High School’s girls basketball team as they played two Class A schools during last weekend’s Northwestern/Southwestern A Tip-Off Tournament in preparation for the regular season.
With the losses against Hamilton, 53-31, and Dillon, 44-25, came consistent two-point shooting and two improved second halves. Valkyries head coach Mark Hansen said the way the Vals performed on the court wasn’t unexpected.
“It’s just a learning curve,” Hansen said. “I wasn’t disappointed. We just have some things to work on, but we knew that going in.”
As a young team, Bigfork will need to get used to playing against veteran teams with more varsity experience. Hansen said that for the most part the Vals were able to get into a groove as the weekend’s games progressed.
With some adjusting, Bigfork improved from a 28-12 first half against Hamilton to a 23-19 second half. They repeated that increase in scoring against Dillon with a 22-9 first half and 22-16 second half.
Point guards sophomore Josie Spoklie, and freshman Mattison McAnnaly, played their debut games for varsity. Hansen said they held their own against the older more experienced Class A teams.
“I thought for their age level and experience they both did a great job,” Hansen said.
Hansen also said his guards were aggressive and pressed hard against the Hamilton offense on Friday night. And although they pressed hard against Dillon on Saturday, Hansen said there were lapses and Dillon took advantage of them.
“They’re both really good shooting teams and whenever we didn’t play hard on defense they really made us pay,” Hansen said.
Hansen said Riley Coleman defended consistently and aggressively through both games and pulled 10 rebounds down against Dillon. Tessa Robertson had a solid weekend on both defense and offense with 11 points and nine rebounds against Hamilton and eight points, eight rebounds and four blocks against Dillon. Shelby Scoggins played into her leadership role and came away with nine rebounds against Dillon and 10 points against Hamilton.
Hansen said the Vals should use the varsity experience of Robertson and Scoggins to their advantage, and find them on the pass more so the pair can get more shooting opportunities. He also said Bigfork needs to do a better job of protecting the ball as Dillon forced 27 turnovers on Saturday.
“That’s 27 more shots we should be getting up,” Hansen said.
As far as shots go, Bigfork stayed with both teams for two-point shooting and lost on free throws, only putting in seven for 22 throughout the weekend. Hansen said practice makes perfect with free throws.
“That’s just time in the gym getting used to shooting,” Hansen said.
The Vals headed back into the Bigfork gym on Monday to prepare for their opening district game against Eureka. Hansen said he’s unsure of what to expect from Eureka and is staying focused on what the Vals need to and can do in their first home game of the season.
Bigfork hosts Eureka on Thursday at 4 p.m. and heads to Plains on Saturday for a 3 p.m. game. The freshmen Vals will host Whitefish on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and the junior varsity team hosts Glacier on Tuesday at 4 p.m.