GIRLS BASKETBALL: Big Sky bangs past Glacier, ends Wolfpack's season
<p>Glacier's Hailee Bennett is fouled by Missoula Big Sky's Kendall Mooney as Kelsi McEnaney looks on during the Wolfpack's 47-42 loss in the state play-in game at Glacier on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Glacier's Kali Gulick shoots over Missoula Big Sky's Anna Gragg during the Wolfpack's 47-42 loss at Glacier on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
The Glacier girls fell apart late, losing a 10-point halftime lead as Missoula Big Sky pounded the paint in the fourth quarter on the way to a 47-42 victory in a Class AA state basketball tournament play-in game on Thursday night at Glacier.
Glacier dominated for much of the contest, but couldn’t find its range in the fourth quarter. The Eagles mounted a 19-3 run that would last for nearly eight minutes of game time to wrest control of the game, led by star forward Anna Gragg. The future NCAA Division I volleyball player was nearly unstoppable in the paint in the second half, scoring 15 of her 17 points after the break.
“At the end of the game, she just wanted it,” Big Sky coach Jason Vanderwall said. “I told the girls if we want to win this game, we have to get the ball to her as much as we can. The girls were patient. We had a couple of other situations where the girls stepped up.”
Glacier built its lead on defense and jump shooting early in the game, holding the Eagles to just two field goals in the first half. The Wolfpack, on the contrary, scored all but three of its first half points from mid-range or deeper, including a 3-pointer and a deep two with a foot on the line from junior post Nikki Krueger in the first quarter.
The hot-shooting Wolfpack made 56 percent of its first-half buckets to build a 22-13 halftime lead. Big Sky shot 17 percent in the first half, but supplemented its scoring at the free-throw line where it was 8 of 10.
The Eagles started their come back quickly after halftime as Glacier found fewer open shots. Big Sky fed Gragg in the post to mount a 8-3 run to cut the Glacier lead to four points midway through the third quarter. Turnovers and offensive fouls began to slow their momentum, however, as Glacier seniors Hailee Bennett and Taylor Salonen ripped off four quick points to push the lead back out to nine points.
Glacier would lead by 10 with less than a minute to play in the third as Anna Schrade scored in transition to give the Wolfpack a 33-23 advantage.
That momentum was stemmed slightly on the next possession when Eagles senior McKenna Arledge hit the team’s first 3-pointer since the first quarter to cut the Glacier lead to 33-26 entering the fourth quarter.
Big Sky took the momentum again early in the fourth quarter when Arledge hit a 3-pointer on the first possession of the period. After a steal on the other end, Big Sky senior Kendall Mooney hit another 3 and one possession later the Eagles tied the game at 33-33 by splitting a pair of free throws.
Glacier senior Hailey Ruggles retook the lead for the Wolfpack with a 3-pointer of her own, but Glacier went cold again for the next four minutes.
Big Sky wasted no time feeding the post, with Gragg and forward Kelsi McEnaney scoring the next seven points to give the Eagles the lead for good.
Salonen ended the Wolfpack drought with a 3-pointer from the left corner and Bennett hit a 3 to cut the Eagles lead to 42-44 with 30 seconds to play. However, a late turnover kept Glacier from getting an attempt to take the lead and Big Sky pulled away at the free-throw line.
“They made good shots, good plays in the second half and we didn’t,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “Arledge hit a couple of big 3s and we just couldn’t shut Gragg down.”
Gragg and Mooney finished with a game-high 17 points each for Big Sky.
Bennett had 14 points and four rebounds to lead Glacier. The Wolfpack, which allowed just 13 points in the first half, was outscored 16-8 in the paint in the second half and 7-3 on points off turnovers.
The loss ends the Wolfpack’s season at 12-9. It is the first time Glacier’s girls have missed the postseason since the 2010-11 season.
Big Sky 10 3 13 21 — 47
Glacier 15 7 11 9 — 42
BIG SKY—Kendall Mooney 4-7 7-10 17, Kelsi McEnaney 1-6 2-4 4, McKenna Arledge 2-5 0-0 6, Julia Riekena 0-3 2-2 2, Anna Gragg 6-8 5-8 17, Marlee Sandry 0-1 0-0 0, Kendall Rauk 0-1 1-2 1, Sydnee Zanto 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 13-33 17-26 47.
GLACIER—Taylor Salonen 4-6 0-0 9, Anna Schrade 2-3 1-2 5, Nikki Krueger 2-5 0-0 5, Hailee Bennett 5-11 3-4 14, Hailey Ruggles 1-3 0-0 3, Brynn McChesney 1-1 0-0 2, Courtney Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Kali Gulick 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 17-36 4-6 42.
3-point goals—Big Sky 4-12 (Mooney 2-2, Arledge 2-5, McEnaney 0-2, Sandry 0-1), Glacier 4-10 (Slaonen 1-3, Krueger 1-1, Bennett 1-4, Ruggles 1-2). Rebounds—Big Sky 22 (Gragg 7), Glacier 17 (Bennett 4). Assists—Big Sky 11 (Arledge 4), Glacier 14 (Bennett 4). Blocks—Big Sky 1 (Gragg), Glacier 1 (Mitchell). Steals—Big Sky 8 (Arledge 2, Riekena 2), Glacier 7 (Salonen 5). Total fouls—Big Sky 9, Glacier 16. Fouled out—Glacier, Krueger.