Wolfpack wallops Polson, 47-18
Glacier head coach Bill Sullivan couldn’t put his finger on why his team was a bit lethargic to begin Thursday night’s girls basketball contest with Polson.
Was it the hangover effect from two conference losses last weekend?
Sitting through a pair of blowouts in the freshman and junior varsity games before taking the floor?
Or, just one of those nights?
“You never can tell,” Sullivan said, “but certainly there was something there.”
Regardless, the reason for the slow start wasn’t of much concern to Sullivan or his players by the night’s end.
The Wolfpack, which led 13-10 near the end of the first quarter, followed the sluggish beginning with a 20-1 run that gave it full control en route to a 47-18 win over the Pirates in its nonconference finale at Glacier High School.
“We just didn’t start it very well, but still did some very nice things and took care of it and got the win,” Sullivan said. “Defensively, we got a little bit better, a little more intense. We weren’t very intense to begin with.”
The intensity was evident for the vast majority of the game for Glacier, which forced 25 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, against a hapless Polson offense.
Many of those turnovers turned into easy points on the other end, the same points that fueled the Wolfpack’s massive run.
“We were disciplined,” Sullivan said. “Help side (defense) was there when it needed to be. We blocked out. We gave them one opportunity at the offensive end. We got back on defense. We were certainly where we needed to be when we needed to be there.”
Glacier shared the love on the offensive end.
Even as it struggled to separate itself early on, the Wolfpack moved the ball crisply throughout, leading each starter to score within the first few minutes of the game.
All but three players scored by the end of the evening, a total of 10 whose names were recorded in the scorebook.
Post Alivia Atlee led all scorers with nine points, and Raley Shirey added eight.
“We’ve been fairly balanced (all year),” Sullivan said. “A couple of our girls certainly take the load more than others, but in general, we have a lot of girls that can put the ball in the hoop.
“I like to see that. We’ve got a lot of girls with confidence.”
Jaycee Frydelund knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter to take scoring honors for Polson.
The win, particularly the final three quarters of it, provided a welcome clean slate for Glacier, which dropped games to top-ranked Helena and undefeated Helena Capital on a tough road trip last weekend.
The Wolfpack now enters the heart of conference play, beginning with a trip to Missoula Hellgate next Thursday.
“We competed very well over there (in Helena),” Sullivan said. “Those are two great teams, certainly could be battling for the state championship down the stretch.
“We’ve just got to continue to improve every week, whether they’re in front of us or behind us.”
Polson 10 1 3 4 — 18
Glacier 15 13 7 12 — 47
POLSON: Kaelyn Smith 3, Quinn Motichka 4, Mahala Buffalo 2, Olivia Perez 1, Jaycee Frydelund 8.
GLACIER: Ellie Stevens 4, Cadie Williams 3, Aubrie Rademacher 4, Abi Manger 2, Anna Schrade 5, Kaleigh Crawford 2, Alivia Atlee 9, Raley Shirey 8, Micah Hickethier 2, Linsey Waugh 3.
Glacier 63, Polson 48
POLSON — Glacier capitalized on low-scoring first and fourth quarters by Polson to run off with the nonconference victory.
Polson trailed 19-8 after the first quarter and was outscored in the fourth 10-4.
Polson did rattle off 23 points in the third quarter.
Glacier was led by Caden Harkins, who tallied 14 points. Alex Whitman netted 12 and Drew Engellant 10.
Shade Main had 18 points for Polson.
Glacier 19 17 17 10 — 63
Polson 8 13 23 4 — 48
GLACIER — Caden Harkins 14, Collin Kazmier 7, Kody Jarvis 8, Drew Engellant 10, Alex Whitman 12, Nick Whitman 7, A.J. Grande 2.
POLSON — Robin Erickson 6, Connor Lanier 4, Shade Main 18, Trevor Schultz 3, Sam Schultz 4, Weston Danley 8, Micah Askan 5.