Class AA State Basketball: Familiar foes for Glacier boys, girls

The Glacier boys and girls both face familiar foes in first-round action at the Class AA state basketball tournament in Billings.

The Wolfpack boys open up at noon today against Great Falls C.M. Russell, a team they played in the first game of the season. Glacier won that meeting 60-49.

“The nice thing is we have seen them,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“When you don’t see the teams from the East like us, we don’t see the Billings schools, we don’t see anybody, sometimes that can be kind of distracting.

“At least we’ve played against them before, that we have an idea what we’re up against is nice for us.”

The Glacier girls kick things off at 9 a.m. against Great Falls High, a team it lost to 53-45 in the third game of the season.

“We definitely know Great Falls High,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “We know the team, we know the coaching staff. That’s definitely something that is beneficial for us. Most importantly, it’s a team we feel like we match up well with and can have some success.

“We’ve been there and lost. We want to get there and know what it feels like to win at the state tournament.”

The Glacier boys won three of four games to close the season, including a 64-52 win at home against Flathead to seal its spot at the state tournament. Glacier looks to bring some of that momentum to Billings.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball,” Harkins said.

“We’re playing much better defense than we were at the beginning of the season. We’ve got guys that are understanding their roles, where they’re at and what they’re supposed to do. Right now I really like how the team is playing.”

Glacier has a much deeper bench now than it had at the beginning of the season.

“I think we have a really good rotation going,” Harkins said.

“Guys know when they’re going to go in and what their expectations are. That really helps the flow of the game.”

CMR has turned its season around since the first meeting. The Rustlers finished second in the East, relying on powerful senior Jayse McLean. McLean, who scored 20 against Glacier in the first meeting, is averaging 18.3 points and 8.2 rebounds a game and leads his team with more than two steals per contest. That example has helped the Rustlers lead the state with 10.1 steals a game as a team.

Much like Glacier, the Rustlers like to attack from deep, making an East leading 34 percent from 3-point range.

“We have to defend and rebound,” Harkins said.

“That’s the key when you get to the tournament. Your shots, you might struggle a little bit, sometimes shooting goes down. But, you can control your effort on the glass and control your effort on defense. We really need to focus on those things. Hopefully the shots will fall for us and things will go our way.”

The Wolfpack hopes to stick with what worked for it down the stretch, attacking the paint from the perimeter to create its advantage on the outside. Glacier’s guards have been able to use penetration to score points or kick to an open shooter against collapsing defenses.

“We really need to go out with the mentality that we’re not going to come out and just cast off right from the beginning,” Harkins said. “We’ve got to attack the rim, play inside-out. I think that gets us in a better rhythm than if we come out and just start launching from the outside.”

The Glacier girls also hope their defense leads them to success, something that has eluded the Wolfpack at the state tournament. Now with a slew of experienced players, the girls hope to reverse that luck.

Glacier enters the postseason as the third seed from the West, having won five of its last six. Senior Cassi Hashley is one of two players at the tournament averaging a double-double this season, with 15.5 points and 10.3 rebounds a game. Unlike last season, Hashley isn’t the only threat on the team, with sophomore point guard Hailee Bennett, averaging 12.2 points per game, and a talented supporting cast taking pressure away from the post.

“We go into the tournament a little more versatile,” Salonen said. “Teams can’t just take away one thing from us. We have other weapons that can step up and do some things for our team.”

The Bison are a tough draw, having lost just three games. They have a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging more than eight points per game.

Senior guard Mercedes Bourgeau leads the team at 12 points per game while sophomore Nora Klick is shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc.

The Wolfpack hopes to limit Great Falls’ possessions with strong defense and rebounding. Hashley is averaging nearly 12 rebounds against AA competition, and was nearly unstoppable at state last year.

“Teams have tried to stop Cassi offensively, but she’s just rebounding the ball so well and getting putbacks,” Salonen said. “Whether it’s offensive boards, defensive boards. She really knows how to find the basketball when the ball is shot.

“If we do struggle offensively getting her the ball inside, we’ll need other people to step up. You know there’s one thing that teams can’t stop and that’s Cassi’s rebounding.”