Sentinel girls stay hot to beat Glacier
Glacier's Charlotte Osler (15) looks to shoot in the first half against Missoula Sentinel at Glacier High School on Saturday, Jan. 7. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Reese Ramey (23) drives to the basket past Missoula Sentinel's Kassidy Kirgan (33) in the first half at Glacier High School on Saturday, Jan. 7. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Bailey Gable (14) knocks down a shot in the lane in the first half against Missoula Sentinel at Glacier High School on Saturday, Jan. 7. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Sarah Downs (4) knocks down a shot in the lane in the first half against Missoula Sentinel at Glacier High School on Saturday, Jan. 7. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
The Sentinel Spartans closed strong Friday, in their girls basketball win at Flathead.
The Saturday matinee Spartans were even tougher.
Senior CC Size led an impressive shooting night for Sentinel with 29 points, and the visitors rang up a 76-47 Western AA win at Glacier. An early 20-0 surge doomed the Wolfpack; the Spartans kept the hosts at a distance by shooting 64 percent from the floor.
The Wolfpack (2-4, 1-1 in the Western AA) led 2-0 and 4-3 on baskets from Charlotte Osler and Rese Ramey.
Soon it was 23-4: The Pack had eight turnovers in the first quarter but mainly the Spartans — who shot 55 percent in the second half of Friday’s 50-42 win — could not miss.
“Sentinel is a great basketball team,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “Either you win, or you learn. CC took over early. They set the tone, which is what we tried to do.
“Our effort and energy was great. They were the better team tonight.”
Monroe Mastro started the early Spartan surge with the first of her four 3-pointers and Size — whose junior year was uneven thanks to offseason knee-surgery — supplied a three, then a steal and layup, a right-handed drive and then two left-handed layups.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Olivia Huntsinger capped the run at 2:08 of the first quarter; Sentinel (5-1 overall, 2-0 in league) led 39-16 after Size hit her second 3-pointer at 3:31 of the second.
Mastro finished with 18 points and Emily McElmurry added 10. Sentinel shot 8 of 13 from the 3-point line; Size went 2-for-2 outside the arc and 8-for-10 everywhere else.
The Spartans played their best ball in their third game in three days (they beat Belgrade 65-58 Thursday).
Glacier had its moments, including a Noah Fincher burst of five points to close the first quarter and Reese Ramey (eight points) pushing the tempo in the fourth.
Fincher had 11 points, five rebounds and three steals. Glacier stayed even on the boards with the taller Spartans.
“Like most coaches say, we want to play our best basketball in March,” Cram said. “And I knew we’re just a couple steps away from being competitive like Sentinel is.”
Glacier’s next action is Friday, at Helena Capital.
Sentinel 25 17 13 21 - 76
Glacier 14 6 13 14 - 47
MISSOULA SENTINEL — Olivia Huntsinger 2-2 2-3 6, Lily Allen 2-3 0-0 4, CC Size 10-12 7-7 29, Emily McElmurry 4-7 1-1 10, Monroe Mastro 6-11 2-2 18, Kassidy Kergen 0-1 0-0 0,m Haley Wolsky 1-2 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Hammett 2-4 0-0 5, Peyton Size 1-1 0-0 2, Nina Sammuory 0-0 0-0 0, Mykayla Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-44 12-14 76.
GLACIER — Sarah Downs 2-5 0-0 4, Kenedee Moore 0-5 0-0 0, Charlotte Osler 2-6 0-0 4, Noah Fincher 5-11 1-2 11, Reese Ramey 4-11 0-0 8, Karly Allen 2-2 0-0 6, Haven Speer 2-2 0-0 6, Colette Daniels 1-5 2-2 4, Bailey Gable 1-1 0-0 2, Cazz Rankosky 0-1 2-2 2, Jaidyn Pevey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 5-6 47.
3-point goals — Sentinel 8-13 (Mastro 4-7, Size 2-2, McElmurry 1-2, Hamlette 1-1, Kirgen 0-1), Glacier 4-18 (Allen 2-2, Speer 2-2, Downs 0-1, Moore 0-2, Osler 0-2, Ramely 0-5, Fincher 0-3, Daniels 0-1). Rebounds — Sentinel 25 (McElmurry 6, Kirgen 5), Glacier 25 (Fincher 5, Daniels 5). Fouls — Sentinel 12, Glacier 15. Steals — Sentinel 4 (Wolsky 3), Glacier 8 (Fincher 3). Turnovers — Sentinel 15, Glacier 13.
