GLACIER BASKETBALL: Wildkats knock off Glacier girls, boys blow out 'Cats

The Columbia Falls girls ratched up their defense to pull away from Glacier in a close 56-47 nonconference basketball victory on Friday at Glacier High School.

The Wildkats, who fell behind 16-14 with 4:50 to play in the second quarter, found their form on the defensive end, holding Glacier to one field goal over the next 8 minutes of game play. The stretch of lockdown ball allowed Columbia Falls to go on a 15-2 run, and take an 11-point lead on the Class AA Wolfpack, a lead it never relented as it leaned on talented junior forward Kiara Burlage to pull away.

“My concern going in was in our first three games not seeing the pressure that Glacier was going to throw at us,” Wildkats coach Cary Finberg said.

“It took us awhile to settle in, but after that first quarter (we did). We had seven turnovers in the first quarter and after that we had seven for the game.

“Once we settled in, and started taking care of the ball, I thought our defense carried us and we made enough plays offensively to get the win. We needed that, as far as getting pushed and getting challenged. The girls met the challenge.”

The teams battled to a draw early on, as Glacier was able to answer the Wildkats’ early post offense with a 3-pointer and transition layup in the final minute to tie the game at 11-11 after the first quarter.

The Wolfpack took a lead twice in the second quarter on a pair of jump shots from senior Hailee Bennett, her second 3-pointer of the game giving Glacier a 16-14 lead three minutes into the frame.

Glacier’s offense went cold, however, only mustering a last-second layup to end the half. The Wolfpack didn’t score again until Taylor Salonen sunk a mid-range jump shot with 4:32 left in the third quarter, and fell behind 29-20 before getting back in the contest.

During that time, Columbia Falls broke the Glacier pressure defense and began going to the post, scoring three buckets in the paint and getting fouled twice, where Burlage hit a pair of free throws. The inside game opened up the perimeter, where junior Peyton Kehr hit a pair of 3s to stretch the lead.

The duo of Burlage and Kehr carried the Wildkats in the third quarter, the two combining for 16 of the team’s 18 points in the period to hold a 39-30 lead heading into the fourth.

In the final frame, Burlage countered Glacier’s comeback attempts with stellar free-throw shooting, making 7 of 8 from the line in the final eight minutes. Columbia Falls was 14 of 20 from the free-throw line in the game.

Glacier cut the lead to six points with 1:17 remaining, but couldn’t find enough buckets in the final minute of play.

Burlage finished with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds and Kehr had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildkats.

Bennett led Glacier with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

“We played tired and tentative. We weren’t the team we’ve been in practice,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said.

“There’s some things we didn’t do well enough defensively. Early on (the press was working), then we got tired. We had to take it off.

Glacier will host Great Falls this afternoon and Columbia Falls will host Northwestern A foes Frenchtown.

C. Falls 11 10 18 17 — 56

Glacier 11 7 12 17 — 47

COLUMBIA FALLS—Cydney Finberg 5-8 0-0 12, Ellie Johnson 1-6 0-0 2, Peyton Kehr 6-14 0-0 13, Kiara Burlage 4-9 12-16 20, Allyson Gimbel 0-2 2-4 2, Sydney Grilley 3-5 0-0 7. Totals: 19-47 14-20 56.

GLACIER — Taylor Salonen 1-3 2-2 4, Nikki Krueger 1-7 1-2 3, Hailee Bennett 6-17 0-0 15, Ahna Kreitinger 2-6 2-2 6, Hailey Ruggles 2-7 0-0 6, Anna Schrade 1-2 3-4 5, Christine Connolly 2-7 1-2 5, Courtney Mitchell 1-3 1-2 3.

3-point goals—CF 4-11 (Finberg 2), Glacier 5-15 (Bennett 3). Rebounds—CF 36 (Burlage 13, Kehr 11), Glacier 31 (Bennett 5, Kreitinger 5). Assists—CF 14 (Johnson 4), Glacier 13 (Bennett 5). Blocks—CF 3 (Kehr, Burlage, Gimbel), Glacier 4 (Krueger 2). Steals—CF 7 (Kehr 3), Glacier 14 (Bennett 4, Schrade 4). Personal fouls—CF 10, Glacier 17. Fouled out—Glacier, Salonen. Technical Fouls—none.

BOYS

Glacier 86, Columbia Falls 55

The Glacier boys pressed and ran past Columbia Falls, using their size and athleticism to run away with a nonconference win at home.

The Wolfpack opened the game on a 14-4 run and closed the first quarter with nine-straight points to take a 25-10 lead after the first eight minutes.

Columbia Falls began to find its form in the second quarter but another strong finish to a quarter from the Wolfpack saw Glacier take an 11-0 run and a 52-26 lead into the half.

“We challenged them to start fast. I thought they had a great start to the game,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“I liked their intensity as they came out. We tried the pressure defense and I thought they executed that real well.”

The Wildcats built some momentum out of the halftime break, scoring the first nine points of the third quarter heind a pair of 3s from Dakota Bridwell and Nathan Riley. Columbia Falls was able to cut the lead to 14 points with 3:52 left in the quarter before Glacier could mount a response.

Glacier picked up its effort on defense, forcing three steals as it got back into transition and closed the quarter with a 20-point lead.

The Wolfpack made five 3-pointers in the final quarter, led by two from senior reserve Jake Norberg, and held Columbia Falls to eight points in the fourth quarter to pad its victory.

“I was really pleased with our guys in the fourth quarter,” Harkins said. “They got back going and got the lead back.”

Norberg finished with a game-high five 3s to lead Glacier with 15 points and four rebounds. Tadan Gilman had 13 points, Jake Willich scored 12 and Dylan Ruggles had 11.

Riley led Columbia Falls with 19 points, shooting 5 of 9 from deep. Bridwell and Logan Stephens each scored 11 points.

Glacier plays at Great Falls today and Columbia Falls hosts Frenchtown.

C. Falls 10 16 21 8 — 55

Glacier 25 27 15 19 — 86

COLUMBIA FALLS—Nathan Riley 7-13 0-0 19, Austin Green 1-3 1-2 4, Tyler Murphy 2-3 2-2 6, Dakota Bridwell 4-10 2-2 11, Logan Stephens 2-5 5-5 11, Kyler Burns 1-1 0-0 2, Matthew Morrison 1-1 0-1 2. Totals: 18-38 10-12 55.

GLACIER—Noah Lindsay 2-6 0-0 4, Jake Willich 5-6 0-2 12, Dylan Ruggles 3-4 5-5 11, John Learn 1-5 1-2 3, Tadan Gilman 6-9 0-2 13, Caden Harkins 1-2 0-02, Collin Kazmier 0-0 2-2 2, Drake Dulin 2-3 4-4 8, Brec Rademacher 1-1 0-0 3, Pat O’Connell 3-5 0-0 6, Jake Norberg 5-9 0-0 15, Torin Bowden 3-3 0-0 7. Totals: 32-53 12-17 86.

3-point goals—CF 9 -22 (Riley 5), Glacier 10-17 (Norberg 5). Rebounds—CF 14 (Murphy 6), Glacier 25 (Learn 4, Norberg 4). Assists—CF 11 (Green 4, Bridwell 4), Glacier 21 (Ruggles 6). Blocks—CF 1 (Morrison), Glacier 1 (Bowden). Steals—CF 4 (Green 2), Glacier 16 (Lindsay 4). Personal fouls—CF 15, Glacier 15. Fouled out—none. Technical fouls—none.