Class AA girls preview: Glacier, Flathead have high hopes
<p><strong>FLATHEAD JUNIOR</strong> Jenessa Heine (43) puts up a shot during the Bravettes’ home victory over Missoula Big Sky to secure a spot in the Class AA State Tournament, March 1. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
In a year as tight as any in Class AA girls basketball, Glacier and Flathead each will look to make waves in Great Falls, albeit from opposite sides of the bracket.
The Glacier girls (17-4) enter the tournament for the second straight season, opening the tournament with a game against Eastern two-seed Butte at noon today. Unlike last season, the Wolfpack’s first venture to state, the team is looking for a little more this season.
“We obviously have high hopes this year,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “Our expectations are a little higher. We want to go there make something happen and win some games. We got a good taste of it now we want to bring some hardware home.”
The Butte girls, and the rest of the East, play a different style than the more physical Western teams. That has led to success in the past, with last year’s Sentinel squad only the third team to win out of the West since the switch in 2002. Missoula Big Sky, led by All-American Joslyn Tinkle, was the only other team to break through the Eastern dominance, winning in 2008 and 2009.
“It’s a give and take,” Salonen said. “It’s a different style of basketball. You just don’t see that much over here. The East has dominated for so many years at the state tournament. Last year was kind of the first year we got some Western AA teams there.”
The Bulldogs are a speedy team that likes to get points from deep, led by senior guard Natalee Faupel, who leads the state shooting better than 45 percent from 3-point range. She averages 14.3 points per game. They also have three girls in the top 10 in 3-pointers made this season.
“We’re trying to defensively prepare for that,” Salonen said. “We’ve had a great week of practice preparing for that type of a team. Defensively we’ve held our hats pretty high. If we can continue that feat and get things rolling offensively we have a chance.”
The Wolfpack offense has run through junior center Cassi Hashley this season, who leads the state in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds, the only player in Class AA boys or girls averaging a double-double this season. Hashley had a 10-game stretch leading to the end of the season in which she averaged 20.5 points and 15 rebounds, blowing away the competition.
“You want her to have some success in the state tournament, because she is really the best player in the state right now,” Salonen said. “I’m really proud of her and how she’s come along. She deserves it because she’s worked hard.”
But all of those numbers bring a lot of attention. Teams have packed in the defense around Hashley the last two weeks, at times putting four girls on her.
The team seems to have responded to the tactic, with the other girls picking up the slack. Rachel Chery and Hannah Atlee each played strong from the other side of the post in the final two games, and seniors Kirstyn Haugenoe and Kailea Vaudt have started to find their range from outside.
On the other side of the bracket, Flathead (11-9) opens the tournament against host team Great Falls in the late game on Thursday, scheduled to start at 8 p.m. The Bravettes fell to the Bison 56-47 at home in the first game of the season.
Great Falls (17-3) is on a roll, winning the final six games of the season, including wins over a pair of tournament teams, to clinch the East’s top seed. The Bison are a balanced squad with four players averaging at least seven points, led by Jessica Keller’s 9.3 a game.
“We have to be solid defensively,” Flathead coach Karly Tait said. “They don’t have one stud, but they have a lot of girls that are capable on any given night.
“We have to be solid on defense. Offensively we need to take care of the ball and get the ball to the girls with the hot hand.”
The Bravettes closed the season strong, winning four of their last six games, finding their rhythm in the playoff game against Big Sky. The fast, pressure-heavy Flathead girls will give a lot of teams trouble in Great Falls.
“The last few games we definitely stepped it up a notch,” Tait said. “We’re just excited to have this opportunity. Hopefully, we can make some noise.”
State AA Girls
Great Falls Four Seasons Arena
Thursday
Noon Butte (18-3) vs. Kalispell Glacier (17-4)
1:30 p.m. Missoula Sentinel (19-1) vs. Billings West (11-10)
6:30 p.m. Helena Capital (18-2) vs. Billings Senior (13-8)
8 p.m. Great Falls (17-3) vs. Kalispell Flathead (11-9)