BIGFORK — Bigfork High School has established a dominant basketball program. And they proved that again last week as the boys and girls teams took first in the divisional tournament, and they hope they can carry that momentum in the state.
"It was really awesome. It's been a long and trying season so far," said Bigfork boys head coach John Hollow."You know, I think three weeks ago, we were sitting 8-8, probably not a lot of people expected it besides everybody that is in our practice every day, and it was nice to see them get rewarded for all their hard work."
"They had a lot of pressure on them honestly, I think there was a lot of expectations that we were going to take divisionals, and sometimes that doesn't go that way. I was super proud that they just came out, they competed every game, and they worked hard," Bigfork head girls coach Cortnee Gunlock said.
This postseason, the girls team went 5-0, and the Bigfork boys had back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019, so high expectations are how this program thrives.
"Straight off of a back-to-back state championship run and having that culture has always been a pressure. But it's always been a dream for everybody to be a part of it because everybody wants to be a part of the Bigfork winning culture," senior Levi Taylor said.
"We have never taken first at divisionals. We took second my sophomore year. My sister won divisionals her senior year, so it's kind of a cool thing. It was just super awesome when that final buzzer went off, and you know, we all got to go hug and then get the trophy," Bigfork senior Emma Berreth added.
And what's the critical ingredient for success for these teams that they will take with them into state?
"Every single person on the team is willing to dive on our floor even those guys that are getting twenty points a game are willing to dive on the floor for those hard balls and go get those rebounds. I think that's what carried us in divisionals," said Taylor.
"Just we love to play together, and you can see that on the court, we are always looking to make the extra pass and stuff, and that just really flows into good offense and even defense," added Berreth.
And if the girls continue that flow, they will be bringing home a state title to Bigfork for the first time.
"Girls have never won a state championship for basketball before and that would be kind of amazing. I mean, boys won; they had their back-to-back year, but girls never have, so I think it'd be super cool to bring that home for the Bigfork girls," said Berreth.
