Ramey aims for success

Three years ago Reese Ramey was part of a youth movement in the Glacier girls basketball program, one of six freshmen on the Wolfpack’s junior varsity/varsity roster, with a few — Ramey, Charlotte Osler, and Kenedee Moore — getting quite a few varsity minutes.

It figured that if success didn’t come then, it would be building for this season with the aforementioned trio plus Cazz Rankosky, Alyssa Vollertsen and Jaidyn Pevey.  

Heading into Glacier’s road games this weekend, just two of those girls are still playing: Ramey, the team’s leading scorer, and Rankosky, a magnet for rebounds. 

“Having that age and maturity would have helped,” Ramey said this week. “It’s funny because my freshman year the seniors seemed so much bigger and untouchable.” 

And now? 

“I don’t feel that way at all,” she said. “I still feel like a freshman.” 

Ramey is a rock for a high school team that of the four that play Class AA basketball in Kalispell, has been the most solid this season. Of seven Western AA wins between the Glacier and Flathead boys and girls. the Wolfpack ladies have four. 

They’ve done it despite losing twin juniors Cassidy and Cadence Daniels to matching knee injuries; focusing on different sports drew other players away. 

“I’m so thankful for the relationships with those kids, and they’re very supportive of the program,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “At the end of the day you coach the kids you have, and I still have a very special group.” 

Rankosky averages six rebounds a game. Allie Kruger, Karley Allen and Rylee Bigelow have added scoring punch in the last several games.  

Ramey, meanwhile, averages 14.7 points a game. In league contests the number jumps to 17.2.  

Her production really spiked on Feb. 6, when she hit an overtime-forcing 3-pointer against Flathead, and then followed that with the game-winner. She finished with 25 points and the Pack snipped a 58-55 win from Kaylee Fox’s Bravettes. 

“That was crazy,” Ramey, who also had 12 steals that game, remembered. “All game I just felt like I wasn’t playing well and getting in my head a little bit. 

“It’s pretty special. Two buzzer-beating situations. That’s pretty cool.“ 

“Talking with Coach Fox, she said, ‘You know, we could be coaching against each other for another 20 years and never experience that,” Cram said. “That was a once in a lifetime experience. And I’m good with that.” 

Ramey’s three 20-point games have drawn attention. An All-State soccer player, she’s leaning toward hoops in college and has heard from small schools like Simpson University in California, Dickinson (N.D.) State and Spokane Falls Community College. 

In the very near future is a trip to Helena: Helena High (6-3) is just ahead of Glacier in the league standings; on Saturday the Pack plays Capital (4-6), which is just behind. 

Glacier has its Senior Night Tuesday, when it brings Missoula Hellgate to the Wolf Den.  

The goals are a second straight trip to the State AA tournament and to do damage there. 

“I believe we are 100 percent capable of earning a playoff home game and competing at state,” asserts Cram. 

“You have ups and downs,” Ramey said of the Pack, which is 7-7 overall. “The valleys and peaks. I think we’ve already gone through that valley period, and it’s all looking up from here.”