ANACONDA — The undefeated Bigfork girls looked darn near unstoppable on Thursday.
Sophomore Braeden Gunlock poured in a game-high 23 points and Ava Davey added 12 as the Valkyries quickly overwhelmed Deer Lodge en route to a 69-13 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Western B divisional.
Bigfork, the reigning divisional champion, led 43-5 by halftime over a fourth-seeded Deer Lodge team that was clearly overmatched form the get-go.
The Valkyries will now face St. Ignatius in the semis. The Bulldogs built a double-digit lead over Anaconda in the quarters and then survived a furious comeback bid from a Copperhead squad that's been missing it's top scorer Makena Patrick for most of the season following a knee injury, eventually holding on for a 47-43 win.
Kooper Page led the way for the Bulldogs in that game with a game-high 23 points and Anaconda was paced by 15 points from junior Larkin Galle and 10 from sophomore Meela Mitchell.
In the other quarterfinal games, Missoula Loyola stormed past Eureka 70-34 (the Breakers were led by 18 points from Gio Horner and 14 from Addie Nault) to setup a semifinal against a Thompson Falls team that pulled past Florence-Carlton 61-49.
The Breakers and Blue Hawks are set to tip off at 3 p.m. and the Valkyries and Bulldogs at 4:45 p.m.
