AA: Wolfpack girls fall to unbeaten Skyview
MISSOULA — Things didn’t look great at halftime at Dahlberg Arena, where the Glacier girls trailed Billings Skyview 29-18 in the first round of the State AA basketball tournament.
Then the third quarter started, and the unbeaten Falcons ran off 13 straight points, and a 42-19 deficit became a 61-38 setpack for the Wolfpack Thursday.
Glacier, 7-15, will face Missoula Big Sky (17-5) in a loser-out game Friday at 9 a.m., while the 22-0 Falcons will take on defending state champion Billings West — a 66-38 winner over Big Sky — in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m.
In the late games Gallatin thumped Missoula Sentinel 60-36 before Missoula Hellgate narrowly prevented an Eastern AA sweep, beating Great Falls CMR 49-47 on Chloe Larsen’s bucket with 4 seconds left.
The Raptors (17-5) and Knights (15-7) will square off in the 5 p.m. semifinal.
Skyview 61, Glacier 38
Facing some diamond-and-1 defense, Falcons’ standout Breanna Williams scored eight points in each half but continued to fill out the scorebook in other ways: She had five boards, six assists and six steals.
The future Maryland Terrapin also had help. Angel Martin (five steals) was a problem at the top of Skyview’s zone defense, Tayrn Salveson hit three 3-pointers and Rae Smart had 11 points and nine rebounds.
“They’re a well-put together team, and as much as (Williams) is a superstar, it was their whole team that made it happen today,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “Certainly we tried to make adjustments, and they were just the better team today.
“I don’t think we have played our best basketball of the tournament yet. Offensively we needed to have more action. And they shot really well.”
Williams started that clinching 13-0 surge with a basket underneath, Salveson continued it with a transition 3-pointer and Smart capped it with two free throws.
Glacier’s Kiera Sullivan snapped it with a 3-pointer, cutting the gap to 42-22 late in the third.
A fourth-quarter flourish by Noah Fincher — she hit a 3-pointer and had a quick steal and layup at the 1:22 mark, then added another late triple — tightened the margin and gave the junior guard a team-high 12 points to go with seven boards.
Sullivan added eight points and four rebounds. The Wolfpack also got just three minutes from Cazz Rankosky before the reserve guard took a charge and left the game with a concussion.
Skyview 15 14 18 14 - 61
Glacier 10 8 5 15 - 38
BILLINGS SKYVIEW — Breanna Williams 5-10 6-7 16, Rae Smart 4-10 3-4 11, Kenzie Strachan 3-5 0-0 6, Taryn Salveson 3-10 3-4 12, Angel Martin 4-4 1-4 9, Tenley Leffler 1-1 1-2 3, Kid Lonebear 0-1 2-2 2, Rylee Malcher 0-2 0-0 0, Kenna Pfeiflle 0-1 0-0 0, Mylie Reiter 1-1 0-0 2, Ellie Wolcott 0-0 0-0 0, Olivia Field 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-45 16-23 61.
GLACIER — Kiera Sullivan 3-7 0-0 8, Kenedee Moore 1-4 0-0 2, Charlotte Osler 1-5 0-0 2, Noah Fincher 3-10 4-6 12, Reese Ramey 2-9 0-0 5, Karley Allen 2-3 0-0 6, Cazz Rankosky 0-2 0-0 0, Jaidyn Pevey 0-0 0-0 0, Cadence Daniels 1-1 0-0 3, Julia Hagemeier 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Terry 0-0 0-0 0, Allie Krueger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-42 4-6 38.
3-point goals — Skyview 3-13 (Salveson 3-9), Glacier 8-23 (Allen 2-2, Fischer 2-5, Sullivan 2-6, Daniels 1-1, Ramey 1-6, Rankosky 0-1, Hagemier 0-1, Moore 0-1). Rebounds — Skyview 32 (Smart 9), Glacier 27 (Fincher 7, Moore 5). Fouls — Skyview 8, Glacier 16. Turnovers — Skyview 11, Glacier 21.
Billings West 66, Big Sky 38
Eastern Washington signee Kourtney Grossman poured in 26 points for the Golden Bears, who led 37-20 at halftime.
Grossman hit all four of her 3-point attempts and pulled down eight rebounds for West. Halle Haber added 14 points and Sydney Pierce chipped in with seven points and eight boards.
Sadie McGuinn scored 13 points and Audrey Hale added 11 for the Eagles, while star Kadynce Couture managed six points while missing seven free throws. She had nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The Eagles beat Glacier both times they squared off in the regular season, though standout guard Avory DeCoite has been sidelined since Feb. 8 by an elbow injury.
West 16 21 14 15 - 66
Big Sky 6 14 10 8 - 38
BILLINGS WEST — Reagan Soucy 2-6 0-0 6, Kourtney Grossman 9-12 4-6 26, Sydney Pierce 3-6 0-0 7, Halle Haber 7-11 0-0 14, Annika Olson 0-2 2-2 2, Brooklyn Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, Maisie Heggem-Prinkki 3-9 0-0 8, Jayda Hatzell 1-3 0-0 3, Addie Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Grace Curnow 0-0 0-0 0, Kensi Dorn 0-0 0-0 0, Sloan Kinsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 6-11 66.
MISSOULA BIG SKY — Sadie McGuinn 5-15 0-0 13, Kadynce Couture 2-9 1-8 6, Tina Kirilovich 0-2 0-0 0, Mya Hubbard 2-6 0-0 5, Gianna Janacero 0-0 0-0 0, Delaney Laird 0-1 0-0 0, Tanya Kirilovich 0-0 0-0 0, Lilly Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Averi Larson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-48 3-12 38.
3-point goals — Grossman 4-4, Heggem-Prinkki 2-5, Soucey 2-5, HJatzell 1-2, Pierce 1-3, Olson 0-1), Big Sky 7-24 (McGuinn 3-9, Hale 1-3, Hubbard 1-4, Couture 1-4, Latrielle 1-4). Rebounds — West 41 (Grossman 8, S. Pierce 8), Big Sky 24 (Couture 9). Fouls — West 9, Big Sky 10. Turnovers — West 16, Big sky 13.
Gallatin 60, Sentinel 36
Jada Davis scored 19 points and Ave Odegard added 15 points along with 16 rebounds for Gallatin, which rolled to a 30-15 halftime lead.
Both Davis and Odegard hit two 3-pointers for the Raptors; Makayla Coleman added 10 points.
Sentinel (10-12) was led by Emily McElmurry’s 11 points. Peyton Size added 10. McElmurry had four rebounds for the Spartans, who lost the board battle 38-22.
Hellgate 49, CMR 47
Larsen’s 13th and 14th points came after Hellgate burned its final timeout with six seconds left.
The Knights battled from down eight in the first quarter to leading by 10 in the third period, only to see CMR (11-11) tie it at 46-all on Macie Wheeler’s basket with 2:10 left.
Both teams split sets of free throws before Hellgate took possession with 19 seconds remaining, and burned two timeouts ahead of Larsen’s game-winner. She also had eight rebounds.
Carmen Anderson added nine points for the Knights.
Wheeler had a game-high 16 points along with seven rebounds for the Rustlers, and Rhema Pace added 13.