Prep Basketball: Poor shooting sinks Wolfpack girls

Once again, the defense was there for Glacier, but at the same time the Wolfpack’s Achilles’ heel came into play.

The Wolfpack trailed Missoula Big Sky by only a basket midway through the fourth quarter on Friday but couldn’t find any offense and went on to lose 43-34 in the Western AA girls basketball contest on senior night at Glacier High.

Glacier went five-for-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter. On the flip side, Big Sky made 9-of-14.

“We shot very poorly for the game. We had some good looks that we just couldn’t get to go in,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “It was almost like there was a lid on the hoop.”

Rachel Cutler led the Wolfpack offensively with 11 points and Brooke Watkins added eight. Glacier fell to 2-6 in conference and 7-9 overall.

Glacier lost Ashlee Waggener in the first half to an ankle injury.

“Defensively, we’re there; to hold Big Sky to only 30-some points late in the fourth quarter like that,” Salonen said. “We’ll just have to keep plugging away.”

Katie Showers scored a game-high 13 points and Elleson Tinkle added 10 for the Eagles (5-2, 10-5).

Glacier finishes out the regular season on a four-game road trip starting next Friday at Helena.

Big Sky    6    9    13    15    —    43

Glacier    5    6    13    10    —    34

BIG SKY — Sarah Lidstrom 1 3-6 5, Stephanie Carl 3 1-2 8, Elleson Tinkle 3 4-4 10, Kelsey LaVaute 3 0-0 6, Danielle Sheridan 0 1-2 1, Katie Showers 6 1-2 13. Totals 16 10-16 43.

GLACIER — Rachel Cutler 5 0-1 11, Cami Mathison 0 2-2 2, Sydney Sharaf 2 0-0 5, Baylee Quay 1 1-5 3, Patty Hughes 0 3-9 3, Brooke Watkins 2 2-2 8, Ashlee Waggener 0 0-2 0, McKell Bennett 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 8-21 34.

3-point goals — Big Sky 1 (Carl), Glacier 4 (Watkins 2, Sharaf, Cutler); Team fouls — Big Sky 18, Glacier 15; Fouled out — None

Columbia Falls 52,

Ronan 25

RONAN — The DeWit sisters combined for 25 points and Shay Grilley followed with nine as Northwestern A-leading Columbia Falls picked up another conference victory.

The conference’s leading scorer, Kayla DeWit (19.46 ppg), had a game-high 13 points and sister Kelsey had 12 as the Wildkats improved to 5-0 in conference and 10-5 overall.

Columbia Falls plays at Whitefish today at 3:30 p.m.

Col. Falls    6    14    19    13    —    52

Ronan    6    5    14    0    —    25

COLUMBIA FALLS — Kayla Stratton 7, Dani Grilley 3, Kayla DeWit 13, Brooke Cady 6, Shay Grilley 9, Jonna Werner 2, Kelsey DeWit 12.

RONAN — Courtney Clairmont 2, Jonna Grant 8, Alice VanGunten 4, Nina Orozco 8, Ashley Grandchamp 3.

Eureka 67, Troy 26

TROY — The Eureka Lions picked up a well-rounded win before heading into next week’s District 7B tournament and finished the regular season 10-8 overall and 8-2 in league.

Senior Steph Vogelman led the Lions with 21 points in the first half before sitting out most of the second as Eureka cruised into next Thursday’s tournament in Libby with the No. 2 seed and a first round bye.

“It was a good one to go into the district tournament with,” Eureka coach John Hammond said.

Senior Tayler Holder added 14 points and seven steals while fellow senior Carly Hammond had seven points, eight steals and eight assists for the Lions.

Eureka and top-seed Bigfork have first-round byes and won’t play until next Friday at districts.

Eureka    20    21    12    14    —    67

Troy    5    8    7    6    —    26

EUREKA — Tayler Holder 7 0-2 14, Carly Hammond 3 1-2 7, Selene Elster 2 1-5 5, Alyssa White 2 1-2 6, Courtney Dickinson 1 2-4 4, Brooke Williams 1 0-0 2, Cassidy Morgan 4 0-2 8, Steph Vogelman 9 3-7 21.

TROY — Alyssa Olds 1 1-2 3, Kim Klin 2 0-1 4, Jordan Williams 1 0-0 2, Jackie Pepiot 4 8-13 17.

3-point goals — Eureka 1 (White), Troy 1 (Pepiot); Team fouls — Eureka 17, Troy 16; Fouled out — None.

Boys

Glacier 48,

Missoula Big Sky 44

MISSOULA — Glacier had another display of fourth-quarter heroics and rallied to defeat Western AA foe Missoula Big Sky on the road.

Glacier trailed by eight heading into the final quarter before outscoring the Eagles 22-10 and improving to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in conference.

“The kids again showed a lot of character,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “They played so hard and such great defense.”

Shay Smithwick-Hann and Connor Fuller each scored 15 points and Bryan Chery followed with 10 for the Wolfpack. Smithwick-Hann led the team in rebounds with 10.

Glacier has won three of its last four and sits in third place in the West. The Wolfpack has three homes games remaining starting with next Friday’s matchup with Helena, followed by the regular-season finale at Flathead on Feb. 26.

Glacier    11    8    7    22    —    48

Missoula Big Sky    11    10    13    10    —    44

GLACIER — Shay Smithwick-Hann 5 4-4 15, Connor Fuller 4 5-9 15, Bryan Chery 3 3-3 10, Trey Griffith 1 1-2 3, Mario Venturini 1 0-0 2, Grahm Schmaltz 1 0-0 3, Ryan Edwards 0 0-0 0, Logan Quay 0 0-0 0, Freddie Blodnick 0 0-0 0, Wiley Fusaro 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 13-18 48.

BIG SKY — Eric Deneault 3 0-0 8, Drew Owens 1 0-2 2, Ryan Devlin 3 1-1 7, Jordan Shafer 3 1-2 10, Ed Apostal 1 5-7 7, Aaron Koster 3 4-5 10, Jason Neibergs 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 11-17 44.

3-point goals — Glacier 5 (Fuller 2, Smithwick-Hann, Schmaltz, Chery), Big Sky 5 (Shafer 3, Deneault 2); Team fouls — Glacier 15, Big Sky 17; Fouled out — None.

Columbia Falls 61,

Ronan 49

COLUMBIA FALLS — Kyle Howell scored a game-high 22 points — 16 in the first half — and Austin Barth had 14 points and seven rebounds as the second-ranked Wildcats picked up their 14th overall win of the season with the Northwestern A victory.

Howell added six rebounds and Nick Emerson had 10 points and six rebounds for Columbia Falls, who improved to a 6-0 record in conference.

“Ronan came out and played very hard and turned into a helter-skelter type of game,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “I think our kids didn’t respond as quick as we would have liked ... We have to get that killer instinct.”

The Wildcats lost the conference leading-rebounder Kaleb Johnson (injured wrist) for at least this week’s games.

Columbia Falls plays at Whitefish tonight at 6 p.m.

Ronan    13    12    11    13    —    49

Columbia Falls    12    20    14    15    —    61

RONAN — Jerod Tanner 4 0-0 10, Gordon North Piegan III 1 0-0 2, Marcus Hungerford 2 0-0 4, Lucas Black 2 2-2 7, Justin Dustybull 4 0-0 8, Kevin Wroblewski 5 0-0 14, Colton Cheff 0 0-2 0, Brady Oakland 1 2-3 4. Totals 19 4-7 49.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Kyle Howell 7 7-13 22, Nick Emerson 4 1-2 10, Chris King 0 1-2 1, Tim Spencer 1 1-3 3, Austin Barth 6 2-4 14, Mitchell Wassam 2 2-2 7, Michael Williams 1 2-5 4. Totals 21 16-31 61.

3-point goals — Ronan 7 (Wroblewski 4, Tanner 2, Black); Columbia Falls 3 (Howell, Emerson, Wassam); Team fouls — Columbia Falls 14, Ronan 28; Fouled out — Tanner, Dustybull.

Whitefish 49, Bigfork 27

WHITEFISH — The Bulldogs turned in their best defensive effort of the season and achieved what only one other team has been able to do this season by defeating the second-ranked Vikings of Class B.

Senior Connor Silliker had 17 points and 11 rebounds, sophomore Gage Vasquez had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists and Whitefish (5-11 overall) dealt Bigfork only its second loss of the season.

Christian Ker paced the Vikes (15-2) with eight points and Dillon Fraley followed with five.

Whitefish hosts Northwestern A rival Columbia Falls at 6 p.m. tonight. Bigfork has a first-round bye for next Wednesday’s District 7B tournament in Libby and will play Friday.

Bigfork    7    6    7    7    —    27

Whitefish    12    17    8    12    —    49

BIGFORK — Lael Richmond 0 0-2 0, Evan Jordt 0 1-4 1, Ryan Gembala 1 0-0 3, Travis Knoll 1 0-0 2, Cody Dopps 0 1-2 1, Christian Ker 3 0-0 8, Keenan Evans 2 0-0 4, Jackson Boese 1 1-2 3, Dillon Fraley 2 1-2 5, Conner Coleman 0 0-2 0. Totals 11 4-14 27.

WHITEFISH — Kyler Blades 1 0-0 3, Cole Havens 0 1-2 1, Gage Vasquez 5 0-0 10, Cooper Olson 4 1-4 10, Jace Kalbfleisch 1 0-0 2, Connor Silliker 7 3-8 17, Drew Galbraith 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 5-14 49.

3-point goals — Bigfork 3 (Gembala, Ker 2); Whitefish 2 (Blades, Olson); Team fouls — Bigfork 12, Whitefish 13; Fouled out — Galbraith

Troy 57, Eureka 55

TROY — Ryan Rayson and Trent Cratty each scored 15 points and the Trojans edged the Lions in District 7B action.

Ryan Holder scored a game-high 20 and Tanner Blankers added 14 for Eureka (2-8 in district, 3-14 overall).

Eureka    15    12    16    12    —    55

Troy    11    16    18    12    —    57

EUREKA – Tanner Peterson 7, Ryan Holder 20, Tanner Blankers 14, Andrew Derby 2, Josh Soderling 2, Caleb Curtiss 4, Bryton Guckenberg 6.

TROY – Ryan Rayson 15, Jake Alexander 7, Jake Higgins 3, Cody Hoffman 9, Trent Cratty 15, Brian Hammerich 8.