AA state girls basketball: Sentinel sinks Glacier

BILLINGS — Glacier clamped down on high-scoring Missoula Sentinel for four quarters, but it still wasn’t enough as the second-ranked Spartans claimed a hard-fought 37-26 victory in the semifinals of the Class AA state girls basketball tournament on Friday afternoon at MetraPark Rimrock Auto Arena.

Sentinel (21-1) hit double-digit scoring in only two quarters, the middle two, but that proved to be more than enough to advance the Spartans to tonight’s championship game. They will play at 6:30 p.m. versus fifth-ranked Billings West.

West upset top-ranked Helena Capital 46-45 in overtime in Friday’s other semifinal game.

Capital faces Great Falls High today at 9 a.m. at MetraPark in loser-out play. That winner moves on to the consolation final.

Sentinel is looking to claim its third straight state title.

“I guess you can call it an offensive struggle, a defensive battle for both teams,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said.

“Both (teams) came in with the game plan to take the best players out of the game, but Sentinel won the battle.”

The Spartans’ 37 points were a season low. They came in averaging 59.8 while allowing 34.9

Sentinel’s average margin of victory this season has been 24.9 points.

The 26 points for Glacier was also a season low.

“That’s very low for us,” Salonen said.

“They did everything we asked them to do defensively. We struggled offensively.”

Glacier (16-7), which has lost three times to Sentinel this season, trailed 8-5 and 18-13 after the first two periods. The Wolfpack’s offensive woes drifted into the second half as it was held to 13 points.

Sentinel’s Olivia Roberts led all scorers with 16 points. She tallied six of her team’s first eight points.

Roberts was averaging 18.2 points per game.

Cassi Hashley tallied 10 points for Glacier and pulled down 11 rebounds. The senior center was averaging 15.4 and 10.5, respectively.

Sentinel dominated board play, 31-20, and held a slight edge in the turnover department with just 11. Glacier had 14.

The Spartans went 12 of 20 from the free-throw line to Glacier’s 6 of 14.

The Wolfpack struggled from the outside, hitting just 2 of 11 three-point attempts. That forced the team to rely on Hashley inside.

Sentinel was 3 of 7 from behind the arc.

“We had some good shots,” Salonen said.

“We just couldn’t get anything to go down. We missed free throws.”

The loss drops Glacier into loser-out action today versus Billings Senior at 9 a.m. That contest will be played at Billings Skyview High School.

Senior stayed alive in the tournament by beating Missoula Big Sky 69-40 in a loser-out contest on Friday.

The Glacier-Senior winner moves on to the consolation final at 3:30 p.m. today.

Glacier won its first-ever state tournament game on Thursday, downing Great Falls High 47-46 in first-round action.

“We have to battle back, keep our heads up and try to get a couple wins,” Salonen said.

“We have a chance to get a trophy.”

Semifinals

Sentinel 37, Glacier 26

Glacier 5 8 7 6 — 26

Sentinel 8 10 12 7 — 37

Glacier (16-7) — Taylor Salonen 0-0 0-0 0, Hailee Bennett 2-9 0-0 5, Taylor Loomis 0-6 1-2 1, Hannah Atlee 1-3 0-2 2, Cassi Hashley 3-5 4-8 10, Hailey Ruggles 0-0 0-0 0, Katie Thomas 1-2 0-0 3, Katie Wiley 1-3 0-0 2, Tessa Krueger 1-2 0-0 2, Ali Williams 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 9-30 6-14 26. 3-point goals: 2-11 (Thomas 1-2, Bennett 1-4, Atlee 0-1, Loomis 0-2, Wiley 0-2). Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 20 (Hashley 11). Assists: 8 (Bennett 4). Blocks: 3 (three with 1). Steals: 5 (Hashley 2). Turnovers: 14.

Missoula Sentinel (21-1) — Haley Rogers 0-0 1-2 1, Jill Madsen 0-0 2-2 2, Maddie Keast 0-4 0-0 0, Jess Henning 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Steele 1-3 2-5 5, Shannon Worster 1-1 0-0 3, Olivia Roberts 5-12 5-7 16, Sam Harper 3-5 0-2 6, Emily Beach 1-5 2-2 4. Totals: 11-30 12-20 37. 3-point goals: 3-7 (Worster 1-1, Roberts 1-2, Steele 1-3, Keast 0-1). Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 31 (Roberts 7). Assists: 7 (Steele 3). Blocks: 3 (Harper 2). Steals: 9 (Roberts 4). Turnovers: 11.

Billings West 46, Capital 45, OT

Capital 9 15 13 4 4 — 45

West 6 8 15 12 5 — 46

Helena Capital (20-3) — Michaela Dowdy 2-6 2-8 6, Kasidee Campbell 1-2 0-0 3, Kallie Herrera 1-3 0-0 3, Rayna Pilgeram 2-4 0-0 6, McKenzie Johnston 6-13 2-2 17, Sierra Bignell 1-4 0-0 2, Tjaden Pallister 2-3 2-2 6, Savanna Bignell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-37 6-12 45. 3-point goals: 7-18 (Johnston 3-8, Pilgeram 2-3, Campbell 1-1, Herrera 1-3, Sa. Bignell 0-1, Si. Bignell 0-2). Fouls: 17. Fouled out. None. Rebounds: 29 (Dowdy 11). Assists: 10 (Johnston 4). Blocks: 4 (Dowdy 3). Steals: 2 (Pilgeram 1, Johnston 1). Turnovers: 14.

Billings West (19-3) — Paige Vinger 2-7 1-1 6, Steph Boehm 5-12 1-1 15, Jessi Zurhoff 3-5 3-6 10, Makenzie Shellnutt 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Rogers 1-2 0-0 2, Mika Robinson 3-15 6-7 13, Erin Schreibeis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-42 11-16 46. 3-point goals: 7-24 (Boehm 4-9, Zurhoff 1-2, Vinger 1-5, Robinson 1-8). Fouls: 13. Fooled out: None. Rebounds: 25 (Vinger 7, Zurhoff 7). Assists: 10 (three with 3). Blocks: 2 (Vinger 1, Rogers 1). Steals: 8 (Boehm 6). Turnovers: 10.

Loser-out games

Billings Senior 69,

Missoula Big Sky 40

Big Sky 7 5 11 17 — 40

Senior 16 21 18 14 — 69

Missoula Big Sky (11-12) — McKenna Arledge 1-3 1-2 4, Dani Baker 4-13 6-8 14, Kendall Mooney 0-1 2-2 2, Sidney Davis 2-12 2-2 6, Emily Hooker 1-4 1-2 3, Kendra Joyce 0-5 0-2 0, Maddy Shaide 1-10 1-2 3, Kenzie Hanson 2-4 0-0 4, Morgan Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Gragg 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 13-58 13-20 40. 3-point goals: 1-18 (Arledge). Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 36 (Hooker 6). Assists: 4 (Shaide 2). Blocks: 4 (Davis 2). Steals: 3 (Shaide 2). Turnovers: 14.

Billings Senior (17-6) — Sara Heard 0-0 0-0 0, Kortney McNeil 1-2 4-5 6, Alli Kieckbusch 6-11 5-5 19, Jordyn Wagner 2-5 0-0 5, Naomi Bad Bear 1-2 1-2 3, Karina Bell 3-7 0-1 6, Jeanann Lemelin 3-3 0-0 6, Taylor Mims 5-8 1-4 11, Hannah Nessan 0-1 0-0 0, Jace Henderson 3-7 1-2 7, Cierra Powell 0-0 0-1 0, Sydney Norwood 2-3 1-2 6. Totals: 26-49 13-22 69. 3-point goals: 4 (Kieckbusch 2). Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 38 (Henderson 10). Assists: 20 (Henderson 8). Blocks: 10 (Mims 5). Steals: 7 (seven with 1). Turnovers: 13.

Great Falls 51, Bozeman 40

Bozeman 5 11 8 16 — 40

Great Falls 18 12 12 9 — 51

Bozeman (10-13) —- Melanie Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Riana Rogers 0-3 0-0 0, Jacey Delaney 2-6 0-0 5, Averie Collins 8-15 1-5 17, Caitlin Lonergan 2-6 0-3 4, Alyssa Nagel 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie Hawthorne 0-2 0-0 0, Josie D’Agostino 0-1 0-0 0, Hailee Olson 1-1 2-3 4, Emerald Toth 2-7 3-5 8. Totals: 16-46 6-16 40. 3-point goals: 2-21 (Delaney 1, Toth 1). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 21 (Lonergan 6). Assists: 8 (Johnson 2, Collins 2, Nagel 2). Blocks: 1 (Toth). Steals: 10 (Johnson 4). Turnovers: 11.

Great Falls (19-4) — Mikaela Kynett 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Kumm 2-6 3-4 9, Mercedes Bourgeau 3-6 0-0 7, Markaela Francis 1-3 3-4 5, Lizzy Klinker 2-74 2-4 6, Nora Klick 2-7 4-6 9, Natalie Klinker 7-9 1-1 15, Brooke Dart 0-0 0-0 0, Emme Madsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-36 13-20 51. 3-point goals: 4-13 (Kumm 2, Bourgeau 1, Klick 1). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 37 (Klick 9). Assists: 11 (Klick 5). Blocks: 2 (Francis 1, Klick 1). Steals: 7 (N. Klinker 3). Turnovers: 23.