Wolfpack girls head to Helena with State on the mind

Best two out of three.

After splitting the two regular season meetings, the Wolfpack girls head to the Capital City to take on the Helena Bengals for the rubber match at 6 p.m. Thursday with the winner clinching a spot at the state tournament in Bozeman March 13-15. 

“We are locked in and ready to compete,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “We have had a great three days of practice and are prepared for what we need to do.” 

Both teams prevailed at home with Glacier taking a 60-54 decision at the Wolf Den on Jan 10, while the Bengals claimed a 70-54 win over a fatigued Wolfpack on Feb 22. 

“We learned a lot between the two games, and the second game was not our best performance,” Cram said. “It was our sixth game in 10 days.” 

Cram is confident that her team’s size will give Glacier an advantage offensively. 

“I would venture to say that they will not be able to stop Allie Krueger if we get her the ball in good spots,” Cram said. “If they double-team her, we are confident that she can find our guards and they can knock down a shot.” 

Krueger averages 8.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game for the Wolfpack. Reese Ramey leads the team with 14.9 points and has knocked down 30 triples. 

Cram notes that the Bengals feature eight girls who can make shots from anywhere on the court and slowing down Madi Todorovich, Lauryn Lieberg and McKenna Pipinich is key. 

“They like to leak out and run the court, which we weren't prepared for,” Cram said. “We have prepared some defensive schemes for that.” 

Lieberg leads the Bengals with 11.7 ppg with Todorovich at 11.1 points and 7.6 rebounds — best on the team. Pipinich adds nine points a game.