Wolfpack jilts jitters, whips Bravettes

The No. 2-ranked Glacier girls shook off their first quarter turnover issues to outscore Flathead 19-2 in the second quarter and pull away for a 52-23 victory in Western AA basketball play on Thursday at Flathead High School.

Both teams looked jumpy to start the contest, as the two teams combined for three turnovers and four missed shots in a scoreless first two minutes of action.

Glacier (11-1 overall, 4-0 league) broke through first with a pair of buckets from junior guard Hailee Bennett and extended its lead to 8-1.

“It was jitters, when you look at the atmosphere,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said.

“Once we kind of hit a couple buckets, got through that first quarter, the second quarter we were able to get things going defensively.”

The Wolfpack led 10-6 after the first when it turned up its pressure defense, holding the Bravettes scoreless for the first three minutes of the second quarter. Flathead would score just one basket in the frame, on a wide open layup from Taryn Gutierez behind the press.

The Bravettes (2-9, 0-3) went just 1-for-8 from the field in the quarter and missed on their only free throw attempt as Glacier outscored them 19-2 to take a 29-8 lead at halftime.

“They just really interrupted us with their length,” Flathead coach Lisa Hendrickson said. “They’re a really long team which bothers everybody on that press. It’s relentless.

“When you have turnovers and you don’t capitalize on your scoring it’s hard to beat them.”

Flathead slightly cut into Glacier’s lead in the third quarter but couldn’t keep pace, once again going cold in the fourth, scoring once in the first seven minutes to fall behind by 30 points.

Glacier closed the game strong, going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final quarter.

Bennett, who struggled with foul trouble, had a game-high 16 points to lead the Wolfpack. Katie Wiley, who was serenaded with ‘Happy Birthday’ by the Glacier student section at halftime, scored nine points and six rebounds.

“Someone had to step up,” Salonen said. “Facing that adversity with Hailee having to sit down, we had to come together as a team.”

Bennett returned in the fourth quarter to score seven points and bolster a defense that held the Bravettes to less than 22 percent shooting.

Kylee Meredith had seven points, and a pair of buzzer beaters in the second half, to lead Flathead. Gutierez had six points, Stephanie Wilson five and Janae Moon three. Moon led the Bravettes in rebounds, blocks and steals.

“We’re a young team and we made a lot of mistakes, but you have to credit their defense,” Hendrickson said. “They’re a good defensive team.”

The Bravettes host Hellgate on Saturday and Glacier is off until its trip to Helena next weekend.

Glacier    10    19    8    15    —    52

Flathead    6    2    10    5    —    23

GLACIER — Taylor Salonen 3-6 0-1 6, Hailee Bennett 5-10 4-4 16, Katie Wiley 4-10 1-2 9, Tessa Krueger 1-3 0-0 2, Ali Williams 0-6 0-0 0, Ahna Kreitinger 0-0 2-2 2, Brielle Bumgarner 4-6 0-0 8, Hailey Ruggles 1-3 0-0 3, Nikki Krueger 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 21-50 7-9 52.

FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 3-10 0-1 7, Janae Moon 1-2 0-0 3, Stephanie Wilson 2-9 1-2 5, Jessica Simmons 0-4 0-0 0, Taryn Gutierez 2-7 2-5 6, Cadelyn Nunn 0-1 0-0 0, Mary Heaton 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Liz Lorentz 0-1 2-2 2, Kyleee Beccari 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 8-37 5-10 23.

3-point goals — Glacier 3-6 (Bennett 2-2, Ruggles 1-1, Salonen 0-1, N. Krueger 0-1), Flathead 2-9 (Meredith 1-4, Moon 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Simmons 0-1, Nunn 0-1). Rebounds — Glacier 34 (Wiley 6, Williams 6), Flathead 23 (Moon 5). Assists — Glacier 2 (Bennett 2), Flathead 1 (Meredith). Blocks — Glacier 4 (Wiley 2), Flathead 2 (Moon 2). Steals — Glacier 15 (Wiley 4), Flathead 12 (Moon 2). Total fouls — Glacier 13, Flathead 12. Fouled out — none.