Glasgow girls stun Wolf Point in semis, finish second to Malta

At the beginning of the season, girls' basketball coach Willie Thibault said his team wouldn't be able to surprise anybody this season.

Yet, on Friday night, the Scotty ladies stunned Wolf Point on the way to a second place finish in the District 2B Tournament.

After the Wolves scored at the buzzer of each of the first three quarters, the Scotties held the ball at the end of the fourth.

Glasgow, who had trailed by 10 points earlier in the quarter, just watched as Wolf Point turned the ball over on a backcourt violation with only 2.3 seconds left.

Just three seconds before, senior center Chloe Sukut, drained a 3-pointer to close the score to 59-58 and hold open a glimmer of hope for the Scotties.

Now, with no time outs left to call a play, and only a dribbles worth of time on the clock, Shelby Fossum was tasked with finding a teammate to complete the comeback and subsequently blow the roof off the hometown gym.

She found a teammate wide open underneath the basket, miraculously unguarded and out of reach of any Wolves defenders. The only problem – she was too far underneath the basket.

Tiffany Wetzel, who in the previous 39 minutes of the game had only scored one basket, quickly adjusted her footing and put up a shot just before the buzzer sounded. In a game that saw shots closer than this fall to the wayside, Wetzel's shot was no sure thing.

In fact, sensing the panic and fear in the air, the ball sat on the rim for a second. Shrieks and screams from the crowd were all that seemed to convince the ball from falling away.

But as the buzzer sounded the ball inched towards the center of the rim and fell in, igniting a powderkeg of excitement in the stands. Glasgow had won the game 60-59 and clinched its spot in the divisional playoffs.

The Scotties stunning ending began a weekend of buzzer beaters, but their start to the pivotal game against the Wolves wasn't that great.
Glasgow scored the first basket of the game, then promptly let the Wolves go on a 14-0 scoring run.

It wasn't until late in the first quarter, when senior guard Quinn Vaira completed a four-point play, that the Scotties fully got into an offensive groove. The very next possession, Jami Johnson got a steal and converted for the bucket. A 3-pointer by Amanda Sansaver at the buzzer was all that kept the momentum from swinging completely towards the Scotties as the first quarter ended 17-8.

Wolf Point kept that momentum in the second quarter. Glasgow pushed the Wolves early in the quarter, narrowing the score to 19-15, but a steady diet of post play by the Wolves stretched the lead to 38-25 at halftime.

That 13-point lead was slimmed to eight points at the close of the third, leaving the Scotties within shouting distance with eight minutes remaining. Taylor Markle scored on two consecutive runners, and the Scotties began denying Wolf Point passes to the post. A coast-to-coast layup and a 3-pointer by Rose Reyling, along with two free throws from Markle brought the score to 53-52 with two minutes left on the clock.

Two timely steals by the Wolves extended the lead back to five, but with 45 seconds left the Scotties cut the lead back to two points, 57-55.
Wolf Point wasted 20 seconds and hit two free throws before Sukut's three set up the amazing ending.

Sukut finished with a team-high 16 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting. Markle finished with 12 points, Reyling had 11 points and Johnson had six points.

Wetzel finished the game with five points, Fossum had four points and Hannah Schultz finished with two points.

In the championship game against Malta, the Scotties didn't have as much luck with a comeback.

Glasgow didn't score its first field goal until nine minutes into the game and didn't score its second field goal until 15 minutes in. By then, the Scotties found themselves in a 26-8 hole, while facing the No. 1 team in Class B.
Glasgow was outscored in every quarter but the last and lost the game 53-41.

Markle finished with a team-high 10 points, Schultz had seven points, and Wetzel and Sukut each finished with six points. Fossum netted four points, Reyling and Vaira each had three points and Johnson finished with two points.

The loss still left the Scotties with the No. 2 seed for District 2B as the team enters the divisional playoffs in two weeks. The first test for the Scotties will be Cut Bank, the No. 3 seed from District 1B, on March 4 in Choteau.