Strong first half leads Wolfpack girls to win
From the tipoff at the Wolf Den, the Glacier Wolfpack girls looked energized and never looked back after taking an early lead to defeat the Bozeman Hawks 56-39 Saturday afternoon.
After losing 73-40 the night before to Gallatin, the Wolfpack did not look like a team on a back-to-back and used a big first half to pick up their second win of the season.
“When we met this morning, we decided we need to fire up, we have 32 minutes from tipoff to buzzer and I thought our girls did a great job responding today,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said.
The Wolfpack were led by their guards, senior Reese Ramey and junior Cassidy Daniels both scoring a game-high of 15 points. They were unfazed by the pressure put on by Bozeman’s defense and did a good job of protecting the ball.
The Wolfpack led 13-8 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 30-13 at halftime. Ramey and Daniels combined for 20 of the team’s 30 first half points.
“I feel blessed to have the guards that I do. I thought they played very confidently tonight and were unselfish getting the ball to the people that are open, and I am really proud of them,” Cram said.
The guard play was critical in this game as the Wolfpack were without sophomore Allie Krueger who is the tallest person on the team. It was a team effort rebounding the ball as Bozeman’s Nula Anderson was a force on the glass.
“I told the girls it doesn’t matter the size of your body, the size of your heart is much bigger,” Cram said. “We needed everyone boxing out for their teammates and it was arguably the biggest point in the game.”
Madi Stevens was tasked with guarding Anderson and was limited in the first half with foul trouble. She scored six of her eight points in the third quarter, before fouling out of the game in the fourth.
Karley Allen finished the game with seven points but was a force on defense, oftentimes picking up Bozeman’s guards full court.
Things got close in the fourth quarter when the Hawks were able to cut the lead to single digits, but Daniels quickly killed their momentum, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Ramey went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the fourth and the Wolfpack were able to close out the game.
The Wolfpack (2-2) now take a holiday break and won’t play again until Jan. 10 at home against Helena at 7 p.m. Coach Cram thinks the break will be beneficial after playing four games in two weeks and expects Krueger to return.
“You have to balance rust with skill work and building our schemes within our team which is easier said than done,” Cram said. “It’s a big focus for the future and we know how important these two weeks are, but I know these girls will show up every day ready to work.”
Bozeman 8 5 15 11 — 39
Glacier 13 17 10 16 — 56
BOZEMAN — Zahara Willis 2 2-2 6, Marlee Embry 3 3-4 9, Lexie Cotton 1 2-2 5, Charlie Scott 1 0-0 3, Nula Anderson 4 3-6 111, Lauren KeIm 0 0-0 0, Rose O’Brien 2 0-2 2, Maddy Johnson 0 0-0 0, River Spencer 0 0-0 0. Total 13 10-16 39.
GLACIER — Rylee Bigelow 2 1-2 5, Karley Allen 3 1-2 7, Madi Stevens 4 0-0 8, Reese Ramey 4 6-6 15, Cassidy Daniels 6 0-0 15, Cazz Rankosky 0 1-2 1, Cadence Daniels 2 0-0 5. Totals 21 9-12 56.
3-point field goals — Bozeman 3 (Cotton, Scott, O'Brien) Glacier 5 (Cassidy Daniels 3, Cadence Daniels, Ramey) Fouls — Bozeman 13, Glacier. Fouled out — Stevens