Glacier girls going to state

With every second that ticked off the clock, Glacier grew its lead as it inched closer to Butte.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Wolfpack clinched their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance with a 57-30 home victory over Missoula Hellgate in a Western AA state play-in game on Thursday night at Glacier High School.

Hellgate hardly threatened the Wolfpack, failing to hold a lead in the contest once Glacier’s Taylor Salonen scored the game’s first points with a pair of free throws.

Salonen’s night was far from over.

The junior recorded a double-double, tallying 12 points to go along with her 10 game-high rebounds — seven of which came on the defensive end of the floor.

Senior post Brielle Bumgarner matched Salonen’s point total, pouring in 12 points while grabbing seven boards of her own.

“We came out strong. I think we had the prize in mind,” Bumgarner said.

“We were moving the ball back and forth, getting people open. We were just really working our offense. It really sets us up to be successful.”

It set up plenty of success for the Wolfpack.

Sophomore Nikki Krueger also reached double figures. The forward shot 4 for 6 from the field for 10 points.

Senior Tessa Krueger chipped in eight points and junior guard Hailee Bennett had seven.

The defense wasn’t half bad either.

After holding a 29-19 halftime advantage, Glacier cranked up the pressure, starting the third quarter on an 8-2 run.

Hellgate recorded just two field goals throughout the entire second half and scored 11 points in the third and fourth quarter combined. The Knights finished shooting 24 percent from the field.

“We really wanted to focus on making (Hellgate) earn their buckets,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said.

“There were some things in our press we thought were giving them some easy ones and we needed to cover our middle in our press a little bit better. Then we just kind of got out of it and went to man-to-man defense at half court and didn’t have to worry about anymore fouls and I think that was key.”

Hellgate was led by Kara Hogan’s 11 points. After her, not one Knight scored more than four points.

“At half they were tired and we knew it. We had to run and we needed to attack. We were kind of the aggressors throughout the whole game and we continued that in the second half,” Kris Salonen said.

The monumental victory puts Glacier in the state tournament at the Butte Civic Center on March 12-14. There they will take on Billings West in the opening round scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

With the win, senior Katie Wiley became the first Wolfpack player to play in the state tournament all four years of her prep career.

Glacier has plenty of experience for state with Wiley, along with seniors Tessa Krueger and Bumgarner.

Simply put: “It’s awesome. It’s a great feeling. I think it is a great experience and I’m ready for it,” Bumgarner said.

Missoula Hellgate 8 11 6 5 — 30

Glacier 13 16 15 13 — 57

MISSOULA HELLGATE — Darby Henthorn 1-6 0-0 3, Lexi Duce 2-6 0-0 4, Kaci Paffhausen 1-3 1-2 3, Kylie McWilliams 1-6 0-0 2, Katie Stahl 1-7 0-4 2, Sydney Riddle 0-3 3-4 3, Shawnae Inama 0-1 0-0 0, Kara Hogan 4-9 3-4 11, Maddie Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0, Claudia Weise 1-3 0-2 2. Totals: 11-45 7-16 31.

GLACIER — Katie Wiley 2-2 1-2 5, Tessa Krueger 4-9 0-0 8, Brielle Bumgarner 6-8 0-2 12, Taylor Salonen 3-5 5-5 12, Hailee Bennett 2-10 2-2 7, Ahna Krietinger 0-4 0-0 0, Hailey Ruggles 0-0 1-2 1, Anna Schrade 1-2 0-0 2, Nikki Krueger 4-6 1-2 10, Ali Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 22-48 10-15 58.

3-point goals: Hellgate 1-14 (Henthorn 1-3, Duce 0-2, Paffhausen 0-1, McWilliams 0-2, Stahl 0-2, Inama 0-1, Hamilton 0-1, Weise 0-2), Glacier 3-10 (Salonen 1-3, Bennett 1-4, Krietinger 0-2, N. Krueger 1-1); Rebounds: Hellgate13 (Riddle 5), Glacier 38 (Salonen 10, Bumgarner 7); Totals fouls: Hellgate 15, Glacier 16; Fouled out: None; Turnovers: Hellgate 15, Glacier 19; Assists: Hellgate 7, Glacier 16 (Wiley 5).