Wolfpack can't hold Sentinel

The Glacier girls roared back after a slow start against top-ranked Missoula Sentinel, holding the lead late before the Spartans pulled out a narrow victory on Tuesday in a Western AA conference game at Glacier High School.

The Wolfpack (7-12 overall, 5-6 Western AA) trailed 17-8 after the first quarter, but bounced back in the second and third quarters, eventually taking a 47-46 lead on Sentinel (19-0, 11-0) late in the fourth. Sentinel recovered quickly, retaking the lead with a pair of buckets, but Glacier had a shot with 6 seconds to play to tie. The Wolfpack drew up an open look at a 3-pointer, but the shot went awry, and the Spartans nailed a pair of free throws at the other end to seal the victory.

“We got behind early but the girls hung in there and battled back,” Glacier coach Bill Sullivan said.

“Sentinel forces you to make mistakes and in the first half we probably made a few too many. They battled in the second half to make it a good game.”

Kali Gulick had 11 points and Nikki Krueger 10 points to lead Glacier, which is in the fourth seed entering Thursday’s crosstown matchup against Flathead, its final game of the regular season. The Wolfpack could secure a home playoff game with a win.

Jordyn Schweyen led Sentinel with 16 points and Emma Blakely had 15 points. The Spartans will hold the top seed from the West at the state tournament, securing their spot last weekend.

Sentinel 17 13 10 12 — 52

Glacier 8 15 12 12 — 47

SENTINEL — Emma Blakely 4 4-6 15, Kylie Frolich 3 3-4 10, Jordyn Schweyen 7 0-1 16, Kayla Daily 2 3-4 7, Bronwyn McCormick 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 10-15 52.

GLACIER — Ellie Stevens 2 0-0 4, Cadie Williams 1 0-0 2, Ahna Kreitinger 1 1-2 4, Brynn McChesney 1 0-0 2, Nikki Krueger 4 0-0 10, Anna Schrade 4 0-0 9, Kali Gulick 5 1-2 11, Courtney Mitchell 2 1-2 5. Totals: 20 3-6 47.

3-point goals: Sentinel 6 (Blakely 3, Schweyen 2, Frolich), Glacier 4 (Krueger 2, Kreitinger, Schrade). Total fouls—Sentinel 10, Glacier 16. Fouled out—none.