Spartans pull away from Wolfpack

Glacier hung with Sentinel for a half, but struggled to score late, losing to the defending state champions 53-42 in a Western AA conference girls basketball game on Friday at Glacier.

The Wolfpack (2-2 overall, 0-1 league) dominated the paint in the first half, led by powerful center Cassi Hashley, who had 14 points in the first quarter alone to establish the Glacier offense. That offense, typically centered around the post, also found its legs in transition, pushing past Sentinel’s press at halfcourt to outscore the Spartans (4-0, 1-0) 6-0 in the open court in the first half and work some of their key players into foul trouble.

“The idea for us is to attack that (press) so (Sentinel coach Karen Deden) has to pull it off,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “(Lady Griz commit) Maddie Keast got into a little foul trouble because of that. We’ve got to continue to do that and get better.

“(Glacier sophomore point guard) Hailee (Bennett) does such a good job pushing the ball up. We’ve got to take advantage of that.”

Those two strengths, combined with great play by the guards to cut through the Spartans’ zone defense, made for a lot of easy baskets for Glacier early on. All but one of Glacier’s 11 field goals in the first half came from within three feet.

The fast-paced offense was able to reverse an early 10-point deficit and outscore the Spartans 12-2 to end the first quarter tied 18-18, closing the half down just 27-26.

That momentum didn’t carry through halftime, with Sentinel double- and triple-teaming Hashley in its zone after the break. Unable to find their senior leader to key the offense, Glacier struggled to keep up with the Spartans on the scoreboard.

“We were able to dominate with (Hashley) in the first half,” Salonen said.

“We went into a different offense for zone. We probably should have stayed with what was working for us and then made the switch. We thought we’d try to catch them a little off guard. Obviously, it didn’t go that way.”

Hashley, had just two points in the second half, and Glacier was outscored 26-16 as Keast and Wyoming commit Olivia Roberts took over the contest for the Spartans. Keast finished with 23 points and Roberts had 21.

Hashley finished with a double-double, scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds. Hailee Bennett had 12 points and four assists.

“We came out a little bit flat in the third quarter,” Salonen said. “It wasn’t awful. We still competed.

“I told the girls if they go out there and compete and battle, I could never come in here and be mad at them, or upset.”

“We’ll watch and learn. That’s why we play these games early on. It’s our fourth game of the season. (Sentinel’s) team is in place. We’re still trying to get to know each other and get better. I definitely think that’s going to happen with us. We’re going to get better.”

While the offense struggled late, the defense held Sentinel to its lowest scoring game of the season. Sophomore Taylor Salonen held Roberts, one of the best players in the state, to just 5 of 13 shooting from the floor. The Sentinel power forward did most of her damage from the free-throw line, where she was 10 of 12.

“We knew defensively, (Taylor) was going to have to be the one we put on (Roberts),” Kris Salonen said. “She did a great job. She got a couple fouls. You’re going to foul her, she’s probably gonna score on you a couple times. For the most part she did pretty dang good.”

Now on a two-game losing streak, Glacier looks to get back on the right path by hosting Polson on Tuesday.

Sentinel 18 9 13 13 — 53

Glacier 18 8 6 10 — 42

SENTINEL — Maddie Keast 9-14 3-4 23, Lexi Steele 1-4 0-1 2, Olivia Roberts 5-13 10-12 21, Sam Harper 1-3 1-3 3, Haley Rogers 1-1 0-0 3, Hannon Worster 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 17-39 15-22 53.

GLACIER — Taylor Salonen 1-5 0-0 2, Hannah Atlee 2-4 0-0 4, Katie Wiley 0-2 2-2 2, Cassi Hashley 8-14 2-2 18, Hailee Bennett 4-13 3-4 12, Ali Williams 2-4 0-1 4. Totals: 17-46 7-9 42.

3-pointers — Sentinel 4-17 (Keast 2), Glacier 1-9 (Bennett). Rebounds — Sentinel 23 (Roberts 8), Glacier 24 (Hashley 10). Assists — Sentinel 7 (Steele 2, Roberts 2), Glacier 10 (Bennett 4). Blocks — Sentinel 1 (Harper), Glacier 1 (Hashley). Steals — Sentinel 11 (Roberts 4), Glacier 5 (Atlee 2). Fouls — Sentinel 10, Glacier 17. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — Glacier, Salonen.