Scottie Girls Win and Lose

"Obviously we didn't play how we wanted against Malta," said Riley Noser, "but we just learned from it and bounced back against Wolf Point." The Glasgow girls basketball captain summed up her team's weekend succinctly. Glasgow fell to rival Malta by a score of 65 to 42 in their second meeting of the season on the M-ettes' court. But the Scotties dug deep and came out strong against the Wolves the next night, winning that game 55 to 32.

Malta took an early double digit lead against Glasgow, going up 25-10 at the end of the first quarter, powered in part by a strong outside game. The Scotties fought back in the second, matching the M-ettes in scoring with each team putting up 11 points before half time.

Glasgow outscored Malta in the third quarter by a single point, but the home team finished strong by putting up 19 points in the fourth while holding the Scotties to 10. Noser led her Scotties with 16 points from the center. "We have been working a lot on passing it into the post and I think that has definitely helped with the flow of our offense," she said. Daley Aune put in 13 points, including 3-of-5 from the free throw line. Abrianna Nielsen nailed three three-pointers and a free throw for 10 points. Alexys Mann added two points and Tyann Graham had one from the line.

Free throws were a factor in the game with the M-ettes hitting 90 percent of their attempts, while the Scotties hit only 58 percent of their bonus shots. Fortunately, the Scotties kept their fouls low, notching only four in the first half and six in the second, staying out of trouble. Nielsen led the Scotties with four, while Noser and Blaire Westby had two a piece. Auney and Davyn Myrick were each called for a single violation. Malta had six fouls in the first and seven in the second half.

The Scotties came out at home on Friday night, hungry for a win against the Wolves which their play reflected early. Glasgow put up shot after shot to jump out to an early double-digit lead in the first quarter while their defense shut down Wolf Point. The score was 19-2 at the end of the first eight minutes. "Our defense has improved," Coach Travis Nielsen said. The girls have adjusted to the mix of zone and man-to-man defense and their work showed on Friday.

Scoring slowed down in the second quarter for the Scotties, while it picked up for the Wolves. The first half ended with Glasgow up 26 to 8, as the home team outscored the visitors by a single point in the second quarter. Four of Glasgow's seven points came from the free throw line as Wolf Point found themselves in foul trouble.

The Wolves came out after half time ready to play only to be matched by the Scotties. Each team put up 15 points, allowing Glasgow to maintain their 18-point lead. Glasgow continued to work their game under the basket as Aune earned several trips to the charity line on drives to the bucket and Noser put in three close-range field goals.

Free throws again played a role in the final quarter as the Wolves were called for 12 infractions in the second half, affording the Scotties several bonus shots. Glasgow went 7-for-12 from the line, earning half of their 14 fourth-quarter points from the charity line. Wolf Point scored five of their nine points from the line. Wolf Point hit 75 percent of their free throws in the game while Glasgow again sat at 58 percent from the line.

Fourth quarter free throws, combined with a three pointer from Graham and two field goals from Noser propelled the Scotties to a 23-point lead and the 55 to 32 win. Aune led the Scotties in scoring with 14 points. Graham added 11 points on three threes and two free throws, while Noser had five field goals for 10 points. Nielsen added eight points, Westby six, Mann five and Carly Nelson one for Glasgow.

Wolf Point racked up 10 fouls in the first half and 12 in the second, while Glasgow was called for only five in the first half and seven in the second. Mann led the Scotties in fouls with three, followed by Nielsen and Westby with two each, and Nelson, Noser and Myrick with one each.

Graham said her team took care of the ball over the weekend and kept their turnovers low, but that the team needs to work on boxing out and rebounding moving forward. Coach Nielsen was also happy with his team's ball handling skills, saying, " We have to keep turnovers down and patience on offense."

The Scottie girls have a couple chances at revenge this upcoming weekend, as they look to their second meetings with Scobey and North Country. Glasgow fell to the North Country Mavericks Jan. 7 49-33 at home and to the Scobey Spartans Jan. 9 by a score of 33-29 on the road.

Glasgow hosts Scobey Thursday, Feb. 4 with the JV team tipping off at 5 p.m. and the varsity scheduled for an 8 p.m. game start. The Scotties travel to Saco on Friday, Feb. 5 with the JV game beginning at 3:30 p.m. and the varsity game against the Mavericks starting at 6 p.m.