Glacier girls come up deuces, punch ticket to state

Fittingly, for the second straight time against Helena the Glacier girls’ basketball team fell behind and then owned the second quarter.

When the 50-34 victory over the Bengals was finished, thanks in large part to a 14-2 run in the second period, the Wolfpack punched their second straight ticket to the State AA tournament under second-year coach Amanda Cram.

Senior guard Ellie Keller scored 19 points to lead Glacier (9-6), which trailed 12-5 after threes from Helena’s Reegan Walsh and Kylie Lantz, and two free throws from Avery Kraft.

Kraft’s points came with 13 seconds left in the quarter — enough time for the Pack’s Kaylee Fritz to bury a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

After that it was almost all Glacier.

“We went in with a lot of confidence,” said Keller, who had 10 points in the second quarter, including a backdoor layup to put her team up for good, 13-12. “We knew we had to keep our composure. Cram told us what we needed to correct, we made the adjustments and got back in it.”

Central to the win were 25 Helena turnovers. After the Bengals’ usual quick start — they led 12-7 in the last meeting — the Pack mixed in a 1-3-1 zone and repeatedly foiled their offensive sets. Especially Keller, who had seven steals and eight rebounds.

”It’s kind of our secret weapon,” Keller said. “We’re all really long so we can get a lot of deflections. I don’t want to give too much away — I don’t know who’s reading the newspaper.”

“We were on-and-off in a 1-3-1,” Cram confirmed. “A little diamond look. Not necessarily the game plan, but that was the plan that worked the best.

“Which just makes me proud. They saw the adjustments offensively and defensively and the girls just continued to answer the call.”

Kenzie Williams hit a 3-pointer to put Glacier up 16-12, and her steal and layup made it 22-14 at 1:16 of the second quarter. Keller scored the last four points of the half and it was 26-17.

Helena (6-8) got baskets from Brooke Ark, Alex Bullock and Liz Heuiser to draw to 38-23 at 5:05 of the third. Then Fritz hit another three and Kiersten Smith’s basket off a Keller feed moved the lead back to 10.

Keller scored five points to start a 9-0 run that bridged into the fourth quarter and made it 42-25 with 5:09 left. Emma Anderson’s 10-footer capped it.

Glacier didn’t shoot particularly well, especially in the paint, but cruised.

“Just missing those jumpers and layups, within four feet,” Cram. “Maybe part of that was nerves, but we have to do better at that as we head to Great Falls. But, where we weren’t able to finish on the inside, we were able to work our inside-outside game.

“We talk about how basketball is all peaks and valleys and you have to weather the storm. They did that. They continued to answer whatever Helena threw at us. Couldn’t be more proud.”

Williams had 10 points and five rebounds for Glacier.

Heuiser’s eight points and nine rebounds led Helena.

Helena 12 5 8 9 - 34

Glacier 8 18 12 12 - 50

HELENA — Reegan Walsh 1-5 0-3 3, Alex Bullock 1-2 2-2 4, Liz Heuiser 4-5 0-1 8, Avery Kraft 2-6 3-3 7, Brooke Ark 2-9 2-4 7, Emma Stilson 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Lantz 1-4 0-0 3, Maloree English 0-5 0-0 0, Rachel Plaster 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 12-38 7-13 34.

GLACIER — Sidney Gulick 0-4 0-2 0, Ellie Keller 4-15 10-10 19, Emma Anderson 2-6 2-4 6, Kenzie Williams 4-9 0-0 10, Kaylee Fritz 2-7 2-2 8, Janessa Henson 1-3 0-0 2, Bethany Sorensen 1-2 0-0 3, Kiersten Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Cameron Gilman 0-0 0-0 0, Cady James 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 14-18 50.

3-point goals - Helena 3-19 (Walsh 1-4, Ark 1-5, Lantz 1-5), Glacier 6-16 (Williams 2-4, Fritz 2-4, Sorenson 1-2, Keller 1-5, Anderson 0-1). Rebounds - Helena 36 (Heuiser 9), Glacier 27 (Keller 8). Fouls - Helena 19, Glacier 14. Fouled out - Bullock. Steals - Helena 4 (Walsh 2), Glacier 15 (Keller 7). Blocks - Helena 2 (Bullock, Heuiser). Turnovers - Helena 25, Glacier 10.