Valkyries win 15th straight, lock up Northwest A title
Braeden Gunlock battles Browning’s Natalee St. Goddard for a loose ball during the Vals’ win Thursday. (Jeremy Weber/Bigfork Eagle)
The Valkyries overcame sickness and injury and locked up a Northwest A title last week as the downed Browning and Polson for their 15th straight victory and a 10-0 mark in conference play.
The short-handed Valkyries got 19 points from Braeden Gunlock, 17 from Paeten Gunlock and 12 from Ava Davey Thursday as they survived a physical test in Browning, downing the Lady Indians 62-33.
The Vals entered the game with a depleted bench as Keni Wade missed the trip with an illness and Chloe Norred was injured in junior varsity action.
Bigfork jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the game’s opening minutes, but Browning used an 8-4 spurt to cut the Val’s lead to 16-12 after one quarter of action.
The Browning push continued in the opening moments of the second quarter as the Lady Indians tied the game at 16-all with 6:52 to play in the frame, but Bigfork countered with an 18-2 run to close out the half for a 34-18 advantage at the break.
Bigfork continued to pull away in the second half as the Vals picked up the win.
Along with her 19 points, Braeden Gunlock added 11 rebounds, four steals, four assists and three blocks in the win while Paeten had six steals and five assists.
Davey finished with three steals to go along with her 12 points.
Callie Gembala had nine points for the Vals in the win and added four rebounds and four steals while Afton Lambrecht scored five points along with three steals and three rebounds.
It was all Bigfork at home last Tuesday as the Vals built a 40-15 halftime lead over Polson before outscoring the Lady Pirates 23-6 in the second half to earn a 63-21 victory.
Braeden Gunlock scored 27 points to go along with nine rebounds, eight steals, and six assists in three quarters of action while Paeten added 19 points, eight steals, seven assists and five rebounds in the win as the Vals played without Davey, who was recovering from a concussion.
Gembala added eight points and three rebounds for the Vals while Norred had four points, Lambrecht scored three and Wade had two.
The Vals close out the regular season this week as they host Ronan Thursday before playing at home against Whitefish in the finale Saturday.