Class AA state basketball: Billings West girls spill Glacier
BUTTE — Leading by seven in the fourth quarter, Glacier went cold from the floor for more than four minutes to end the game, falling to Billings West 53-47 in the first round at the Class AA girls state basketball tournament on Thursday at the Butte Civic Center.
Glacier held a 45-38 advantage midway through the fourth quarter and its defense had forced the Golden Bears to shoot just 14 percent to start the final period, their only make coming on a desperation 3-pointer. But, foul trouble had been lurking all game for the Wolfpack, and when two more 3s cut the lead to one point, it came into play.
West attacked the Glacier interior and paraded to the foul line, taking its first lead at 47-45 with 2:13 to play. The Bears were 9 for 13 from the free-throw line to close the contest.
In contrast, Glacier missed its final 10 field goals and scored just two points in the last four minutes of play.
“We knew at halftime we had to stop fouling,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “Then honestly, we got tired. Then we just gave up. They attacked and we got tired and let them get to the line and let them get to the rack.”
Glacier was in full control from the tip, starting the game on a 6-0 run while holding West scoreless for the first 4:34. The Wolfpack held West to 20 percent shooting for the first 13 minutes, leading 14-5 after the first quarter and 23-7 midway through the second.
Then foul trouble started to creep in.
West entered the bonus with 3:21 left in the half and continued to drive the ball to the paint. The Wolfpack had four players pick up a second foul by the end of the quarter as the Bears cut the once sizeable lead to 29-21 at half.
Glacier guard Taylor Salonen picked up a quick pair of fouls at the start of the second half, earning her third with more than six minutes to play in the third quarter. She picked up a fourth on an offensive drive later in the quarter and teammates Brielle Bumgarner and Katie Wiley picked up their third, allowing West to tie the game from the free-throw line.
Even with its foul struggles, Glacier still led 39-36 after the third quarter and was able to extend its lead with strong defense in the fourth.
With the Wolfpack still clinging to a 45-44 lead, West went into the foul bonus with 2:49 to play, just as Glacier went cold from the field.
West recognized its advantage at the free-throw line and began to stall with nearly two minutes to play, forcing Glacier to send it to the line to get the ball back. The Wolfpack was able to force a few turnovers to recover in the final minutes but missed three 3-pointers down the stretch.
“We got looks in the second half but we didn’t get drops,” Kris Salonen said.
“The ball just didn’t go down in the second half.
“If you hit a couple of those buckets, then we’re still rolling, we’re ahead and we’re still winning the game. We didn’t have some shots drop that we needed to drop.”
Tessa Krueger had a team-high 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead Glacier.
MorningRose Tobey scored a game-high 18 points and Cody Rogers and Brianna Shirley each had 11 for the Bears.
Glacier moves on to loser-out play where it will play Great Falls C.M. Russell at 1:30 p.m. today. West will play Helena Capital in the semifinals at 8 p.m.
“We’re not giving up here,” Kris Salonen said.
“We want to bring home a trophy. I still believe we’re a good enough team to bring home the third place trophy. We’re going to be mad, they have a little chip on their shoulder.
“We still believe we’re a better team.”
West 5 16 15 17 — 53
Glacier 14 15 10 8 — 47
BILLINGS WEST – Tobey Morning Rose 5-17 7-8 18, Jessi Zuroff 2-8 3-8 8, Cody Rodgers 2-5 5-7 11, Haylea Elkin 2-8 1-3 5, Kennedy Hildebrand 0-1 0-0 0, Bre Latimore 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Shirley 3-6 1-5 11. Totals: 14-45 21-31 53.
GLACIER – Taylor Salone 1-6 0-0 3, Hailee Bennett 2-7 1-2 5, Brielle Bumgarner 3-6 1-2 7, Katie Wiley 4-10 0-2 8, Tessa Krueger 5-12 0-0 10, Ahna Kreitinger 1-2 0-0 2, Hailey Ruggles 1-1 2-2 4, Nikki Krueger 3-5 0-0 6, Ali Williams 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-51 4-8 47.
3-point goals – West 4-13 (Rodgers 2-3, Zuroff 1-1, Morning Rose 1-6), Glacier 1-10 (Salonen 1-4). Total fouls – West 9, Glacier 25. Fouled out – Bumgarner, Wiley. Rebounds – West 29 (Zuroff 8), Glacier 40 (Krueger 11).
Capital 13 8 9 14 — 44
CMR 5 4 14 7 — 30
HELENA CAPITAL – Tjaden Pallister 2-8 3-4 7, Mary Bryggman 3-7 0-0 6, Rayna Pilgeram 1-5 2-2 4, McKenzie Johnston 7-12 2-4 18, Savanna Bignell 0-4 4-6 4, Madi Quick 1-1 0-0 3, Abbie Witham 0-2 0-0 2, Kyra Dawes 0-2 0-2 0, Taylor Sullivan 0-2 2-3 2. Totals: 14-43 13-21 44.
GREAT FALLS C.M. RUSSELL – Courteney Shovlin 0-1 0-0 0, Briana Easton 1-3 0-0 2, Taylor Edwards 6-20 4-4 18, Lindsay Martinez 0-3 0-0 0, Courtney Schroeder 0-2 0-0 0, Zuzu Rudio 0-0 0-0 0, Talya Vaira 0-0 0-0 0, Mady Skawinski 2-7 0-0 5, Addison Gardner 1-2 0-1 2, Cailey Froehie 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 11-40 4-5 30.
3-point goals – Capital 3-10 (Johnston 2-4, Quick 1-1), CMR 4-17 (Edwards 2-7, Froehie 1-1, Skawinski 1-5). Total fouls – Capital 11, CMR 21. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Capital 35 (Pallister 8), CMR 29 (Easton 7).
Bozeman 16 5 9 14 8 — 52
Big Sky 7 16 11 10 3 — 47
BOZEMAN – Jacey Delaney 0-3 0-0 0, Averie Collins 3-15 2-2 9, Caitlin Lonergan 3-11 7-8 13, Bailey O’Leary 5-8 2-2 13, Emerald Toth 1-7 6-12 9, Melane Johnson 0-6 2-8 2, Amber Tarabochia 1-1 0-0 2, Hailee Olsen 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 15-54 19-32 52.
MISSOULA BIG SKY – Kendall Mooney 0-4 2-6 2, Kelsi McEnaney 0-2 0-0 0, Maddy Shaide 5-22 8-9 19, McKenna Arledge 6-9 2-4 17, Anna Gragg 3-5 1-2 7, Emily Hooker 0-1 0-0 0, Julia Riekena 1--2 0-0 2. Totals: 15-45 13-21 47.
3-point goals – Bozeman 3-11 (O’Leary 1-2, Toth 1-2, Collins 1-4), Big Sky 4-15 (Arledge 3-4, Shaide 1-7). Total fouls – Bozeman 20, Big Sky 21. Fouled out – Longergan, McEnaney. Rebounds – Bozeman 45 (Toth 16), Big Sky 31 (Mooney 8, Shaide 8).
Sentinel 6 10 21 13 — 50
Senior 12 12 10 10 — 44
MISSOULA SENTINEL – Haley Rogers 2-6 3-4 9, Kylie Frohlich 1-9 3-3 5, Lexi Steele 0-5 0-2 0, Shannon Worster 7-11 9-10 24, Brie Finbraaten 2-6 0-0 5, Brittany Delridge 0-0 0-0 0, Jordyn Schweyen 3-10 1-2 8, Natalie Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-48 16-21 50.
BILLINGS SENIOR – Kortney McNeil 3-5 0-0 7, Alli Kieckbusch 4-15 0-1 9, Jordyn Wagner 4-8 2-2 14, Naomi Bad Bear 1-4 0-0 2, Taylor Mims 5-10 0-0 10, Shyanne Gilcrist 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Paine 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Norwood 1-5 0-0 5. Totals: 18-48 2-3 44.
3-point goals – Sentinel 4-13 (Rogers 2-6, Worster 1-2, Schweyen 1-3), Senior 6-15 (Wagner 4-8, McNeil 1-2, Kieckbusch 1-4). Total fouls – Sentinel 10, Senior 17. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Sentinel 39 (Frohlich 11), Senior 25 (Mims 7).
—————
Today’s Schedule
Loser-out games
Noon — Billings Senior vs. Missoula Big Sky
1:30 p.m. — Glacier vs. Great Falls C.M. Russell
Semifinals
6:30 p.m. — Missoula Sentinel vs. Bozeman
8 p.m. — Billings West vs. Helena Capital
Boys
Skyview 13 7 11 16 — 47
Sentinel 14 6 9 10 — 39
BILLINGS SKYVIEW – RayQuan Evans 3-8 7-9 13, Nolan McHugh 4-7 1-1 10, Tre’von Strong 2-6 1-2 5, Kendal Manuel 4-11 4-6 14, Jameson Willems 0-0 2-2 2, Taylor Trollope 0-0 2-4 2, Nick Tranel 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Nelson 0-0 0-0 0, Brenden Acheson 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 13-34 18-26 47.
MISSOULA SENTINEL – Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 6-18 1-2 14, Sam Beighle 1-2 0-0 3, Jeff Krstulich 1-1 1-2 3, Mitch Reynolds 0-2 0-0 0, Jory Breen 0-2 0-0 0, Will Mytty 3-6 0-0 7, Griffin Line 0-2 0-0 0, Mitch Roberts 0-1 0-0 0, John Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Travis Zander 4-9 1-2 12. Totals: 15-43 3-6 39.
3-point goals – Skyview 3-10 (Manuel 2-5, McHugh 1-2), Sentinel 6-19 (Zander 3-7, Beighle 1-2, Darko-Kelly 1-6). Total fouls – Skyview 10, Sentinel 22. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Skyview 28 (Evans 12), Sentinel 22 (Darko-Kelly 4, Krstulich 4).
Capital 14 15 15 21 — 65
Bozeman 12 12 17 18 — 59
HELENA CAPITAL – Casey Ebelt 8-14 5-5 26, Sean Mulcahy 4-9 2-2 10, Keegan Syvrud 6-14 4-4 20, Gus Chancy 1-3 1-2 3, Will Hunthausen 0-3 2-2 2, Daniel O’Malley 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Bryggman 2-3 2-2 4. Totals: 21-48 14-17 65.
BOZEMAN – Adam Huse 8-12 0-0 20, Bennett Hostetler 5-8 1-1 11, Grant Blomstrom 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Meade 1-2 5-5 7, Trace Bradshaw 5-7 0-0 10, Drew Huse 1-1 0-0 3, Aaron Weidenaar 3-10 0-0 6. Totals: 24-43 6-7 59.
3-point goals – Capital 9-17 (Ebelt 5-9, Syvrud 4-6), Bozeman 5-13 (A. Huse 4-6, D. Huse 1-1). Total fouls – Capital 10, Bozeman 14. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Capital 23 (Chancy 6), Bozeman 24 (Bradshaw 9).
Hellgate 7 7 21 19 — 54
Great Falls 13 23 17 23 — 76
MISSOULA HELLGATE – Tres Tinkle 8-18 4-4 20, Rhett Baerlocher 2-10 1-2 5, Devin Bray 3-9 0-0 9, Mark Lebsock 2-3 0-2 4, Brayden Frohlich 0-1 0-0 0, Buckley Belcourt 2-2 0-0 6, Peter Vandam 0-1 0-2 0, Easton Packard 2-4 0-0 5, Connor Schenk 2-2 0-1 4, Bob Schenk 0-1 1-4 1. Totals: 21-51 6-15 54.
GREAT FALLS – Lukas Vining 4-11 7-10 16, Lester Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Matthew Wyman 5-8 7-7 18, Brendan Howard 8-16 7-8 24, Jake Wetzel 4-6 0-0 11, Daniel Silverstein 1-3 0-0 3, Kody Torgerson 0-0 0-2 0, Brad Goodell 0-0 1-2 1, Keaton Burcham 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 23-48 22-29 76.
3-point goals – Hellgate 6-18 (Brady 3-6, Belcout 2-2, Packard 1-3), Great Falls 8-20 (Wetzel 3-4, Silverstein 1-2, Wyman 1-3, Howard 1-3, Vining 1-4). Total fouls – Hellgate 21, Great Falls 15. Fouled out – none. Technials – Hellgate (coach). Rebounds – Hellgate 26 (Tinkle 13), Great Falls 34 (Howard 9).
West 8 13 18 13 — 52
Big Sky 11 13 13 8 — 45
BILLINGS WEST – Trevor Spoja 1-9 3-6 5, Braydon Deming 5-5 5-6 16, Danny Betcher 3-5 4-7 10, Kameron Rauch 2-8 2-4 6, Mich Brott 1-2 0-0 2, Reece Neilsen 3-4 2-2 9, Bryson Deming 0-3 0-0 0, Jayson Leinwand 1-3 0-MISSOULA BIG SKY – Alex Simmons 3-9 3-3 9, Jake Tabish 5-10 0-0 11, Cory Diaz 2-4 2-5 6, Nick Simmons 0-6 3-4 3, Colin Bingham 5-12 4-7 15, Daxton Schatz 0-4 0-1 0, Drew Sheridan 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 15-48 13-22 45.
3-point goals – West 2-13 (B. Deming 1-1, Neilsen 1-1), Big Sky 2-17 (Bingham 1-2, Tabish 1-3). Total fouls – West 17, Big Sky 21. Fouled out – Diaz, Bingham. Technicals – Big Sky (bench). Rebounds – West 33 (Rauch 7), Big Sky 36 (Bingham 12).
—————
Today’s Schedule
Loser-out games
9 a.m. — Bozeman vs. Missoula Sentinel
10:30 a.m. — Missoula Big Sky vs. Missoula Hellgate
Semifinals
3:30 p.m. — Helena Capital vs. Billings Skyview
5 p.m. — Billings West vs. Great Falls