AA State Girls Basketball: Missed chances for Wolfpack
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) looks to shoot the ball Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA state basketball tournament in Great Falls. </p>
<p>Glacier freshman guard Hailee Bennett (4) battles for a loose ball Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte at the Class AA state basketball tournament in Great Falls.</p>
<p>Glacier junior center Cassidy Hashley (21) looks to shoot the ball Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier junior forward Hannah Atlee (12) puts up a shot Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier head coach Kris Salonen gestures during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship on Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>A scrum for a loose ball Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier junior center Cassidy Hashley (21) pulls down a rebound Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) and Glacier senior guard Kirstyn Haugenoe (20) laugh during a break in the action Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior guard Kailea Vaudt (14) makes a play on the ball Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) puts up a shot Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) looks to put up a shot Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier senior forward Rachel Chery (5) looks to shoot Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier junior center Cassidy Hashley (21) blocks a shot Thursday afternoon during the second half of Glacier's loss to Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier junior forward Hannah Atlee (12) receives an inbound pass Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier sophomore forward Katie Wiley (24) stretches for a rebound Thursday afternoon during the first half of Glacier's matchup against Butte in the first game of the Class AA State Championship in Great Falls. Thursday, March 7, 2013 in Great Falls, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
GREAT FALLS — The Glacier girls kept it close but couldn’t buy a bucket late, losing to Butte 47-40 in the first round of the Class AA state basketball tournament on Thursday at Four Seasons Arena.
The Wolfpack started the third quarter on fire, feeding the post to score eight straight points, nearly erasing its halftime deficit. After a Butte free throw, Kirstyn Haugenoe gave Glacier its first lead since the opening seconds of the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Pack up 28-27.
Then Butte found its range, hitting a 3-pointer the next trip down the floor and another a few minutes later to close the third quarter on a 9-3 run. The Bulldogs hit another 3 to open the fourth and had five total in the second half, negating the Wolfpack’s advantage on the inside.
“They started to hit some big buckets,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “Those are the little daggers that shut you down.”
Glacier couldn’t close the gap in the fourth quarter, despite the post play of Cassi Hashley, who scored all nine of the Wolfpack’s points in the quarter. The team struggled to connect on layups late that would’ve made it a one possession game and couldn’t answer the Bulldogs deep shooting.
“We just had so many missed opportunities, missing bunnies,” Salonen said. “It was hard early on. If we would’ve made those it would’ve helped us get a little momentum early on and keep it going.”
Glacier controlled the first quarter, building a five-point lead with scoring from four different players. The Wolfpack led 11-10 after eight minutes and its defense was shutting down Butte’s perimeter shooters.
The Wolfpack offense went cold early in the second quarter and failed to score for more than five minutes. Butte took advantage, scoring 10 straight points to take a 20-13 lead.
A small Glacier run got the deficit back to three points but two Butte buckets in the final minute put the Pack down 24-17 at half.
“You want to be able to be in the game ... (and) we were,” Salonen said. “The girls competed so stinking hard.”
Hashley finished with a game-high 21 points and 16 rebounds. Natalee Faupel scored 19 points and Sammy McGree scored 17 for Butte.
Glacier plays Billings West in a loser out game at noon today. The Bears lost to top-ranked Missoula Sentinel 39-33.
“We’ve got to rally the troops and come back and get a win tomorrow,” Salonen said.
Glacier 11 6 14 9 — 40
Butte 10 14 12 11 — 47
GLACIER (17-5) —Hailee Bennett 2 0-0 5, Rachel Chery 1 3-4 5, Kailea Vaudt 0 0-0 0, Kirstyn Haugenoe 3 0-1 7, Cassidy Hashley 10 1-3 21, Taylor Loomis 0 0-0 0, Hannah Atlee 1 0-0 2, Katie Wiley 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 4-8 40.
BUTTE (19-3) — Hailey Hoagland 1 2-2 5, Natalee Faupel 7 3-6 19, Mariah Richardson 0 0-0 0, Sammy McGree 6 2-3 17, Erika McLeod 1 0-0 2, Hattie Thatcher 1 0-2 2, Carlie Haeffner 1 0-0 2, Maria Michelotti 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 7-13 47.
3-point field goals: Glacier 2-9 (Haugenoe 1-3, Bennett 1-4), Butte 6-21 (McGree 3-4. Faupel 2-8, Hoagland 1-6); Rebounds: Glacier 39 (Hashley 16), Butte 27 (Faupel 10); Assists: Glacier 14 (Bennett 8), Butte 13 (Thatcher 8); Blocks: Glacier 2 (two players with 1), Butte 2 (two players with 1); Steals: Glacier 2 (two players with 1), Butte 11 (McGree 4); Total Fouls: Glacier 17, Butte 12; Fouled out: Chery; Turnovers: Glacier 22, Butte 10
Missoula Sentinel 11 9 9 10 — 3 9
Billings West 5 10 8 10 — 33
MISSOULA SENTINEL — Elly Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Liz Harper 3-5 0-2 6, Maddie Keast 3-11 0-0 9, Lexi Steele 0-3 2-2 2, Olivia Roberts 1-8, 9-11 11, Darbi Anderson 0-0 3-4 3, Amanda Bearmedicine 2-6 2-5 6. TOTALS: 10-34 16-24 39.
BILLINGS WEST — Jessica Lampi 0-0 0-2 0, Steph Boehm 3-11 3-3 10, Ashley MacDonald 0-2 0-0 0, Samirah Dennis 1-4 6-6 8, Mika Robinson 5-12 0-0 13, KC Christensen 1-3 0-2 2. TOTALS: 10-36 6-16 33.
3-point goals: Sentinel 3-13 (Keast 3), West 4-20 (Boehm 1, Robinson 3). Rebounds: Sentinel 28 (Harper 5, Keast 2, Steele 2, Roberts 9, Anderson 2, Bearmedicine 7).West 24 (Boehm 3, Dennis 8, Robinson 3, Christensen 4, Erin Schreibeis 5). Assists: Sentinel 6 (Jones 1, Harper 1, Keast 1, Steele 2, Roberts 1). West 6 (Boehm 1, Dennis 1, Robinson 1, Christensen 3). Steals: Sentinel 13 (Harper 3, Keast 2, Steele 1, Roberts 5, Bearmedicine 2). West 6 (MacDonald 3, Dennis 3). total fouls: Sentinel 9, West 16. Fouled out: Schreibeis. Turnovers: Sentinel 9, West 17.