Glacier girls upend No. 1 Sentinel

Staying aggressive and crashing the boards, the Glacier girls earned their biggest win in school history Tuesday night, topping No. 1 Missoula Sentinel, 49-37.

Trailing for most of a very defensive first half, Glacier (5-2 Western AA, 12-3 overall) took the lead a minute and a half into the third quarter and never looked back, beating the Spartans (6-1, 14-1) for the first time ever while handing the state’s top team its first loss of the season.

“That was our goal, we were going to attack, we were going to get to the foul line,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “It was just about confidence, attacking the rack and being able to finish.”

The Wolfpack struggled finishing in the first half. Glacier shot just 23 percent in the first two quarters, unable to hit anything at the rim as they missed breakaway buckets and post layups alike.

It was the Glacier defense that kept the game close while the offense sputtered. The Wolfpack held Sentinel to 28 percent shooting in the first half, and if not for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, would have entered the half tied.

“We mixed it up a bit defensively in the half court,” Salonen said. “We knew we couldn’t press them, they’re pretty quick and we didn’t want to get in foul trouble ourselves, so we just stayed with the half court ‘D.’ Lock it down.”

The defense remained tight in the second half as the offense began to pick up.

Wolfpack senior Kirstyn Haugenoe buried a deep two from in front of the Glacier bench to open the scoring in the third quarter. Her team followed suit, scoring on the next three possessions, opening the half on a 10-2 run to take a 30-25 lead.

While the Spartans would make it close, they never held the lead again. With its lead down to four points in the fourth quarter, Glacier held Sentinel scoreless for more than five minutes of gameplay, extending its lead to 45-35 before a turnaround jumper fell for Amanda Bearmedicine with 1:08 remaining.

Glacier closed the game hitting its final seven free throws, finishing 21 for 29 from the line. Freshman Hailee Bennett hit the last six, and sunk 8 of 8 in the game, while breaking through the Spartans’ press almost single-handedly with her speed.

“She’s so quick,” Salonen said. “She’s done so many good things for us.”

Bennett finished with 14 points.

The Wolfpack’s biggest performer was junior center Cassi Hashley, who was a monster on the boards, pulling in 21 rebounds to go with 17 points. Hashley consistently got the better of Sentinel’s Olivia Roberts, who played much of the game in foul trouble trying to tangle with the Glacier star in the post. Roberts finished with five points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

“Cassi just got in great position tonight,” Salonen said. “She just was not going to let them get a board.”

The win is the first for the Wolfpack over a top-ranked team.

With just five games remaining before the postseason, the win will also likely boost the confidence of the Wolfpack in the home stretch. Glacier will head to Missoula next to play Big Sky (1-5, 5-9) on Saturday.

“They proved tonight they can play at the level of intensity to play the best team in the state,” Salonen said. “Now we have to play like that every night.”

Sentinel 12 11 8 6 — 37

Glacier 12 8 17 12 — 49

SENTINEL — Liz Harper 5-11 0-1 10, Madeline Keaste 1-13 0-0 3, Lexi Steele 3-7 1-2 8, Olivia Roberts 2-6 1-1 5, Amanda Bearmedicine 3-8 0-2 6, Elly Jones 1-8 0-0 2, Nikki Schurg 0-1 3-4 3. Totals: 15-58 5-10 37.

GLACIER — Rachel Chery 0-6 1-2 1, Cassi Hashley 4-14 9-13 17, Hailee Bennett 3-8 8-8 14, Kailea Vaudt 2-7 1-2 5, Kirstyn Haugenoe 1-4 0-0 2, Hannah Atlee 2-3 0-1 4, Katie Wiley 2-4 2-3 6. Totals: 14-46 21-29 49.

3-pointers — Sentinel 2-18 (Keaste, Steele), Glacier 0-2. Rebounds — Sentinel 39 (Harper, Roberts 8), Glacier 44 (Hashley 21). Assists — Sentinel 6 (Steele 2), Glacier 8 (Bennett 3). Blocks — Sentinel 2 (Steele, Sam Harper), Glacier 0. Steals — Sentinel 8 (Keaste 3), Glacier 14 (Chery 3). Fouls — Sentinel 24, Glacier 12. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — Roberts, L. Harper.