Striepe, CMR bounce Glacier

By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter Lake

Great Falls C.M. Russell forward Kate Striepe had big shoes to fill coming into the Class AA girls basketball season.

Consider them filled.

Striepe scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Lady Rustlers opened with a 53-37 win over Glacier at Glacier High School on Saturday.

The CMR starting five took the court for the first time as a varsity unit.

"We're very green," said Rustlers coach Chad Olsen, whose team graduated all five of its starters, including All-State center Mary Anderson, from last year's 14-9 team. "It's going to take time to find our way … All in all, I'm very pleased (with tonight's game)."

Striepe, a 5-foot-11 junior, replaces the 6-2 Anderson down low for CMR.

"Striepe played fabulous," said Olsen. "She filled in nicely for Mary Anderson (who plays at MSU-Billings)."

Glacier jumped to an early lead in an up-tempo first quarter. Senior Emilee Hashley, who finished with 10 points, wrangled numerous rebounds in the paint to give her team the edge at first. The Wolfpack lead by as much as seven until the final minutes of the second quarter when the Lady Rustlers tied the game at 19-all.

CMR went into halftime leading by only three points.

The second half was a different story.

CMR came out on fire, while Glacier struggled.

The Lady Rustlers went on an 18-2 run in the third quarter. Striepe and Lindsey Brendgord, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, led the Rustlers offensively.

Meanwhile, CMR's Jordan Bagley glued herself to Hashley and held the Wolfpack senior scoreless in the second half.

"We had a great first, second and fourth quarter," Glacier coach Doug Hashley said afterward. "The third quarter we kind of let off of CMR, and they're too good a ball club, they exposed our weaknesses."

The frustration set in for the Wolfpack, and after that the turnovers and fouls started mounting up. CMR capitalized at the free throw line, making 22-of-37.

"We just weren't playing with the same intensity (in the third quarter)," Hashley said. "We threw the ball away a few times too many."

Glacier's Lindsea Vaudt netted six points while Ashlee Waggener came off the bench to chip in five. Point guard Maddey Frey added six points and Kayla Smart had four.

The Wolfpack face Polson on Tuesday at home and Hashley said his team will be focused on playing like it did on Saturday, but without letting up.

"We just need to get that intensity back," Hashley said. "But I'm really proud of the way they competed tonight."

Great Falls CMR 9 15 20 9 - 53

Glacier 10 11 5 11 - 37

GREAT FALLS CMR (1-0) - Haley Vining 0 4-6 4, Lindsey Brendgord 3 5-6 12, Jordan Bagley 1 0-6 2, Katy Klick 0 2-2 2, Allison Sullivan 1 0-2 2, Kate Striepe 7 8-10 22, Jayme Hill 1 1-3 3, Jessie Morin 0 2-2 2. Totals 13 22-37 53

GLACIER (0-1) - Kayla Smart 0 4-6 4, Maddey Frey 3 0-0 6, Rachel Cutler 1 1-2 4, Lindsea Vaudt 3 0-0 6, Emilee Hashley 4 2-2 10, Brooke Watkins 0 1-2 1, Ashlee Waggener 2 1-4 5, Zoey Pettit 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 10-18 37.

3-pointers - CMR Brendgord, Vining (2); Glacier Cutler. Team fouls - CMR 17, Glacier 23. Fouled out - Waggener, Glacier