Glacier girls glide by Flathead

The Glacier Wolfpack outscored the Flathead Bravettes 19-2 in the second quarter en route to a 60-52 road victory, sweeping the crosstown series on Friday night.

Sophomore Hailee Bennett led all scorers with 23 points, 12 of which came in the pivotal second period.

“It’s makes me happy to be able to contribute to my team,” Bennett said. “Still, if I am on, shooting wise, I still look to get my team in the offense and get them chances.”

“Tonight, she was rollin’,” Glacier head coach Kris Salonen said. “She was doing good things offensively. It was nice to see her get back to her offensive form.”

The Bravettes tested Glacier throughout the first quarter, ending on a 11-4 run where Senior Tana Fountain hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 15 with six seconds remaining.

The second quarter scoring draught doomed the Bravettes, however—the only basket coming from sophomore Lizzie Sherwood.

They opened up the third quarter with another trey from Fountain, but wouldn’t score another basket until just under four minutes in the period. 

Trailing by as much as 25 in the third, the Bravettes went into the final period of play starring at a 21-point deficit.

Faced with adversity, Flathead clawed back into the game while the Wolfpack let up on the pedal. During a seven minute span, Flathead outscored Glacier 20-7 coming within six points of the Wolfpack with a minute to go in the ball game.

“They don’t have any quit in them,” Flathead head coach Lisa Hendrickson said. “I was trying to get them to focus on one possession at a time. I look up and it’s 58-52. We were right there.”

Bravette senior Emma Andrews scored six of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and a huge 3-pointer by junior Jessica Simmons gave Flathead some life.

Glacier didn’t panic during the Flathead push, and Bennett went 4-4 from the free throw line to ice the game for Glacier.

“Our fourth quarter, we fell apart a little bit,” Salonen said, “but we played a pretty solid game. The girls are playing well together; we’ve just gotta keep it rolling.”

After a scoreless first quarter, senior Cassi Hashley notched seven in the second period and was also in double-figures for the Wolfpack, scoring 14 total points while grabbing seven rebounds.

“They took her out of the game,” Salonen said. “But you can’t keep that kid from rebounding. That’s what I love about her. She’s still going to get her points.” 

Sophomore Katie Wiley added eight points for Glacier.

Three Flathead seniors were in double figures as Fountain tallied 12 points, and post Jenessa Heine added 14. Heine also had a game-high eight rebounds.

“It makes you happy for them (on senior night). They played hard and they played well together. They just kept fight. That’s all I could ask for,” Hendrickson said. 

Flathead will play a rescheduled game against Missoula Hellgate at home on Monday with the outcome affect the Bravettes and Wolfpack’s first post-season opponent. 

“Crosstown is always a big game for us,” Bennett added. “It’s always a fun environment to play in and I feel like it’s a lot like the atmosphere at the state tournament. Playing in these games will definitely prepare us for the tournament.”

Glacier  15  19  17  9  —  60

Flathead  15  21  5  20  —  52

GLACIER — Hailee Bennett 7-11 8-12 23, Taylor Loomis 3-10 0-1 6, Katie Wiley 3-5 1-3 8, Cassi Hashley 3-9 8-10 14, Katie Thomas 3-7 0-2 7, Tessa Krueger 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 20-47 17-30 60.

FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 4-12 7-9 16, Tana Fountain 5-11 0-0 12, Jessica Simmons 1-3 1-2 4, Jenessa Heine 4-14 5-7 14, Lizzie Sherwood 3-6 0-0 6. Totals: 17-50 13-18 52.

3-point goals - Glacier 3 (Bennett, Wiley, Thomas), Flathead 5 (Fountain 2). Rebounds - Glacier 32 (Hashley 7), Flathead (Heine 8). Assists - Glacier 4 (Hannah Atlee, Bennett, Taylor Loomis, Hashley), Flathead 6 (Heine 3). Blocks - Glacier 2 (Atlee, Thomas), Flathead 1 (Fountain). Steals - Glacier 8 (Bennett 2), Flathead 17 (Andrews 6). Fouls - Glacier 17, Flathead 20. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none.