Wolfpack edges Big Sky
Glacier guard Ellie Stevens goes up strong and scores a basket in a crowd of Missoula Hellgate defenders late in the second quarter. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier senior Ahna Kreitinger puts up a shot during the second quarter against Missoula Hellgate on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
The Glacier girls made their first shot of the game, didn’t score for another nine minutes of game time and still came out with their second conference win of the season in a 30-28 home basketball victory over Missoula Hellgate on Thursday night.
The Wolfpack (2-1 Western AA, 4-7 overall) won the tip, and after a reset on offense found junior forward Anna Schrade for a contested 3-pointer and a 3-0 lead just 23 seconds into the contest.
Glacier didn’t score again until nearly two minutes into the second quarter and was held without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes, but still held the lead when it found the basket thanks to stellar defense on the other side of the floor.
“We hung in there,” Glacier coach Bill Sullivan said.
“Both teams, certainly shooting-wise, it wasn’t a great performance. We battled, we hung in there. They kept it close, we didn’t panic and we made plays down the stretch when we needed to”
Hellgate (1-2, 4-7) managed to work its way into the lead late in the first quarter but also had its struggles offensively against a swarming Glacier defense.
The Knights went 2 for 6 from the free-throw line in the first quarter and took the lead 4-3 on a shot from Kaci Paffhausen in the post with 3:42 left in the frame, then went on its own scoring drought.
Glacier held the Knights without a field goal for more than seven minutes of game time, at which point the Wolfpoint had retaken the lead 8-4.
The scoring outburst came from the hands of senior post Nikki Krueger, who scored the first five points of the second quarter on three straight possessions. After hitting the backend of a pair of free throws, Krueger retook the lead for Glacier by fighting through a triple team in the post to push the score to 6-4. Two more free throws the next trip down the floor allowed the Wolfpack to double Hellgate’s output through the middle of second quarter.
That comfortable lead didn’t last long, however. When Hellgate got back on the board it got a pair of buckets quickly to tie the score at 8-8.
Glacier answered with a 3-pointer from Krueger on the next trip down the floor. The teams traded baskets once more and the Wolfpack carried a 13-10 lead into half.
“She’s a leader of the team,” Sullivan said of Krueger.
“It was nice to see her say I gotta get some shots, I gotta get some points. She did that, made some big crucial shots to get us rolling. She did a great job.”
The teams came out firing in the third quarter, each hitting a 3-pointer, Ahna Kreitinger banking one in for Glacier to maintain a 16-13 lead. The score stayed there for nearly five minutes until Hellgate buried a 3 with 1:58 to play, only to be answered by Glacier again, this time from Schrade. Hellgate hit another 3 on its next trip down the floor, but Glacier was able to take back the lead before the quarter closed on a shot from Brynn McChesney in traffic.
Glacier built its lead to 25-21 early in the fourth quarter on the second 3-pointer of the game from Krueger. That lead too was erased with another scoring slump from the Wolfpack, Hellgate tying the game at 25-25 a little more than three minutes later.
“They didn’t panic,” Sullivan said.
“They knew it was going to be tough. The team that made the fewest mistakes down the stretch came out with the win.”
The Wolfpack made fewer mistakes down the stretch, retaking the lead at the free-throw line with 2:40 to play, McChesney sinking a pair to give Glacier a 27-25 lead.
Hellgate struggled to find the basket, missing every attempt to tie, including clanking the back end of a pair of free throws with 51 seconds to play, leaving the Glacier lead at 27-26.
Cadie Williams hit one of two free throws on the next trip down the floor and buried both on her next journey to the line, giving Glacier a 30-26 lead with 14.2 seconds to play.
Hellgate hit a mid-range jumper to cut into the lead with 1.8 seconds on the clock but couldn’t steal the inbounds pass, ending the game.
Krueger had a game-high 11 points to lead Glacier.
Paffhausen had a team-best seven points for Hellgate.
Glacier is back on its home court on Saturday to host Missoula Big Sky (0-3, 2-8).
Hellgate 4 6 9 9 — 28
Glacier 3 10 8 9 — 30
HELLGATE — Shay Evans 1 0-0 2, Holland Small 1 0-0 2, Kaci Paffhausen 3 1-4 7, Maddie Hamilton 0 1-2 1, Syd Riddle 1 3-4 6, Kat Liston 1 0-0 2, Kaitlin Olson 1 0-0 3, Saige Red Boy 1 0-0 3, Kylie Lunday 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 5-10 28.
GLACIER — Ellie Stevens 1 0-0 2, Cadie Williams 0 3-4 3, Maddie Rauthe 0 1-2 1, Ahna Kreitinger 1 0-0 3, Brynn McChesney 1 2-5 4, Nikki Krueger 3 3-4 11, Anna Schrade 2 0-0 6. Totals: 8 9-15 30.
3-point goals—Hellgate 3 (Riddle, Olson, Red Boy), Glacier 5 (Krueger 2, Schrade 2, Kreitinger). Total fouls—Hellgate 13, Glacier 9. Fouled out—Paffhausen.