Glacier Girls Punch Ticket to State Tournament
Wolfpack finishes fourth at Western AA divisional, will meet Eastern AA champion Billings West on Thursday
By Andy Viano
Missoula Sentinel scored just four points in the second half as Glacier clamped down defensively and reached the Class AA state tournament with a 39-26 victory at the Western AA Divisional tourney on March 2 at Glacier High School.
The Wolfpack (14-8) earned the Western Conference’s fourth and final berth at state by virtue of their win Saturday morning, erasing a five-point halftime deficit and outscoring the Spartans 22-4 after the break. Glacier would go on to lose to top-seeded Helena High 47-40 later on Saturday and finished the three-day divisional tournament with an even 2-2 record.
Playing on its home court, Glacier opened the weekend by dropping crosstown rival Flathead for the third time this season, 36-24, before falling to eventual tournament champion Helena Capital 47-37 in Friday’s semifinals. Missoula Hellgate pulled off the upset of the weekend in Friday’s other semifinal, handing Helena a 54-50 defeat, just the second loss for the Bengals this year.
Capital, Hellgate, Helena and Glacier all head to Butte to begin the double-elimination state tournament on Friday, March 2. The Wolfpack will tangle with Eastern Conference champion Billings West Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Both teams were seeded identically last season, when Glacier sprung a 50-40 upset in the opening round.
Flathead (7-14) picked up a win at the divisional tournament, 37-21, against Missoula Big Sky on Friday, but the Bravettes’ season ended the following day when Helena’s Jamie Pickens scored 33 points in a 63-34 Bengals win. Helena has won the last two Class AA state tournaments.