Florence hung around and refused to go away for all four quarters, but Bigfork’s balance was too much for the Falcons to match in the end as the Valkyries claimed a 68-48 victory in opening-round action Wednesday evening at the Western B divisional girls basketball tournament at Flathead High School.

Miranda Campbell led Bigfork’s offensive display with a 16-point performance. She was followed closely by Jamie Berg and Riley Coleman with 11 each. Mattison McAnally and Lana Berg both added 10.

Cambell just missed out on a double-double as she pulled down a team best eight rebounds.

Coleman had six boards.

The 68 points was a season team high despite a typical slow start that had Bigfork up just 9-5 after the first eight minutes. It looked at times in the early going like it would be a struggle for either team to reach the 40-point mark.

“We always do that,” Bigfork coach Jami Grende said of slow starts.

“I don’t know what it is about this team. I wish I knew. But tonight was a little better than it has been.”

Jamie Berg, a freshman forward, gave Bigfork’s offense a boost by scoring eight of the team’s 15 points in the second quarter. That put the Valkyries up 24-16 at the break.

Coleman hit two key 3s in the first half and finished the night going 3 for 3 behind the arc.

Bigfork had things rolling in the second half, outscoring the Falcons 44-32.

Campbell and Lana Berg were unstoppable inside thanks to the soft touch passing of McAnally.

McAnally, who finished with five assists, hit Campbell on a fast break basket with a beautiful bounce pass off the dribble in the third quarter to put Bigfork on top, 41-27.

She followed that with a three-quarter court lob pass to Campbell for another easy layup.

Bigfork pushed its advantage to 20, 47-27, after three quarters.

Florence, however, had one final gasp.

The Flacons slipped to within 13, down 54-41 near the four-minute mark.

McAnally, who was 6 for 6 at the charity line, hit both shots, and was in the right spot for a rebound after a missed shot in the paint by Lana Berg on the next trip down the court for an easy putback. That pushed Bigfork’s lead back up to 17 with just over three minutes remaining.

“I wanted to get it into Miranda more and Mattie did a good job of putting it in there,” Grende said of the second half.

On the defensive side, “we gave up too many shots we didn’t have two,” Grende said.

Florence was led by Kourtney Kohlman, who tallied 14 points. Autumn Round had 10.

Bigfork outrebounded Florence 43-36.

Turnovers were about even — 22 for Bigfork to 26 for Florence. The same with fouls — Bigfork had 24 and Florence 25.

Bigfork was 25 of 55 from the field went 19 of 32 at the charity line.

Florence was 14 of 50 shooting. The Falcons were 17 of 31 at the free-throw line.

Bigfork advances to a semifinal contest tonight at 9:15 against Missoula Loyola.

Florence falls into loser-out play at 9:40 a.m. today versus Thompson Falls.

Florence 5 11 11 21 — 48

Bigfork 9 15 21 23 — 68

FLORENCE — Kourtney Kohlman 5 2-3 14, Autumn Round 3 4-10 10, Ally Rust 2 3-4 7, Jade Zeiler 0 2-2 2, Chloe Arthur 3 1-4 7, Alexis Taulbee 1 3-4 6, Meghan St. Germain 0 2-4 2.

BIGFORK — Marissa Hiza 2 2-2 6, Riley Coleman 4 0-0 11, Mattison McAnally 2 6-6 10, Katie Thomas 1 2-2 4, Lana Berg 4 2-4 10, Jamie Berg 4 3-6 11, Miranda Campbell 6 4-12 16.

Loyola 49,

Thompson Falls 44

Shey Hannum scored a game-high 19 points, but it was not enough to help Thompson Falls down Missoula Loyola.

In a back-and-forth affair, Loyola pulled it out with a big night at the free-throw line. It was 9 of 14 in the fourth quarter and also rode a big 3 by Tessa Burke.

Sami Worster led the Breakers in scoring with 10 points.

Loyola enjoyed a 21-17 lead at intermission and took a 31-30 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Thompson Falls 8 9 13 14 — 44

Loyola 13 8 10 18 — 49

THOMPSON FALLS – Lindsay Laws 6 0-0 14, Shey Hannum 6 6-10 19, Sierra Sorlie 0 2-2 2, Autrey Hannum 1 0-0 2, Looan Beckman 2 2-2 7.

LOYOLA SACRED HEART – Oliva Round 1 4-8 7, Mikayla Schneider 0 0-2 0, Kelsey Daily 0 4-4 4, Taylor Short 3 0-4 6, Tessa Burke 1 4-4 6, Kelsey Tunte 2 0-0 6, Sami Worster 3 4-6 10, Brook Kolar 1 1-2 3, Kaya Resnar 3 1-2 7.

Ronan 57, Troy 45

Alicia Camel scored 24 points to push Ronan past Troy.

Camel scored 10 of Ronan’s 18 points in the third quarter.

Kendra Starkel added 14 points and Micalann McCrea tallied 10 for the victors.

Allie Coldwell led Troy with 20 points. She was 10 of 10 shooting at the free-throw line.

For the game, Troy was 14 of 18 from the line.

Kaitlyn Downey scored 11 points for Troy.

Ronan outscored Troy 15-4 in the second quarter for a 25-13 lead at the half.

Ronan 10 15 18 14 — 57

Troy 9 4 18 14 — 45

RONAN — Micalann McCrea 4 2-4 10, Jordyn Clairmont 1 0-2 2, Aspen Jore 1 0-0 2, Alicia Camel 10 4-6 24, Kendra Starkel 6 1-4 14, Lee Camel 1 3-6 5.

TROY — Olivia Roach 0 0-2 0, Aurora Becquart 2 2-6 6, Allie Coldwell 5 10-10 20, Kaitlyn Downey 4 0-0 11, Allie Brown 2 2-2 6.

Plains 50, Deer Lodge 33

Plains outscored Deer Lodge 14-2 in the third quarter to pull away for the victory.

Kayla Holmes and Hailey Phillips scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, for Plains.

Kelsie Gray and Jaicee Senecal both had nine to lead Deer Lodge.

Plains jumped out to a 15-5 first-period lead and was up 24-13 at intermission.

Plains 15 9 14 12 — 50

Deer Lodge 5 8 2 18 — 33

PLAINS — Kimberly Earhardt 2 0-2 6, Sami Kinzie 1 1-2 3, Jade Le Deaux 1 2-4 4, Carley Von Heeder 0 2-4 2, Hailey Phillips 6 1-8 13, Kayla Holmes 6 3-6 15, Leah Thompson 3 1-2 7.

DEER LODGE — Natalie Padovich 1 0-0 3, Lenora Campbell 3 2-4 6, Jaicee Senecal 3 2-3 9, Kerstin Cooper 1 0-0 2, Kelsie Gray 4 0-0 9, Maggie Chrisman 1 0-1 2.