Scottie Girls Split Weekend

The Glasgow Scottie girls notched a big win Thursday night, taking down the Scobey/Opheim Spartans at the Dog Pound in a tight game, 41-36. The following night, the team traveled to Saco to face the North Country Mavericks, where the Mavericks took the 43-25 victory. Despite the loss to North Country, the Scotties are proud of their weekend. "I feel we played two very good teams this weekend," said Tyann Graham. "It was a good test for our team."

At home against the Spartans, the Scotties avenged an Jan. 9 loss with strong defense and smooth offensive movement, according to coach Travis Nielsen. "It was a big win for our team over Scobey," he said. "Scobey is an excellent team and it was a nice win for us."

Glasgow came out with a full court press, taking the game to Scobey/Opheim and the move paid off. The Scottie defense stole the ball from the Spartans numerous times and made good on their possessions. Abrianna Nielsen started the Scotties' scoring with a free throw and a three pointer. Alexys Mann drained a three at the buzzer to give Glasgow an 11-2 lead at the end of the first eight minutes. In the second quarter, Carly Nelson nailed two perfect free throws to give the Scotties a double-digit lead, but Scobey/Opheim scrambled back, outscoring Glasgow 14-8 to bring them within three points going into half time.

Coming back out on the hardwood, the Scotties looked to their captain under the basket, feeding Riley Noser the ball. The Spartans sent the center to the line four times in the third quarter, where she went 6-for-8 followed by a three-pointer from Graham as the Scotties improved their lead to 32-27 at the end of the third. Each team put up nine points in the fourth quarter for the final score, 41-36. The Scotties played tough defense and drew fouls offensively, sending them to the charity line. With just under a minute to play, Glasgow held a three point lead. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, the Spartans went Noser back to the line, where she sank two shots, sealing the win for Glasgow.

A. Nielsen led the Scotties in scoring with 11 points. Daley Aune followed with 10 points, and Noser had eight, all from the free throw line. Graham and Mann both put up five points and Nelson added two. Glasgow kept their fouls down with two in the first half and seven in the second. Nielsen and Blaire Westby had three each, Aune, two and Mann one.

Friday night, the Scotties traveled to Saco to face the North Country Mavericks. North Country got the better of the Scotties for the second time this season, keeping their record unblemished. The hosts leapt out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 18-6 going into the half.

The Mavericks continued to pull away from the Scotties in the third quarter, outscoring their guests 9-4. Glasgow rallied in the final quarter of play, putting up 15 points to North Country's 16, but it was not enough to eliminate the point deficit.

Both teams kept their hands to themselves in the competition, as Glasgow as called for only five fouls in the game and North Country was called for eight. Mann and Aune had two each on Glasgow's side, while Nielsen had one. Kia Wasson led the Mavericks with three fouls, Kora LaBrie and Kelsee Cummings had two each and Kaitlyn McColly had one.

Jaycee Erickson led North Country in scoring with 13 points, followed by Reagan Erickson with nine. LaBrie and McColly added six points each and Wasson put in five. Paige Wasson and Cummings added two each. Noser led the Scotties with 11 points, including a three while Nielsen added seven and Mann had three. Westby and Aune had two points each.

As the Scotties move through the second half of their season, they are turning their eyes to tournament time, while still focusing their remaining games. "As tournament time approaches we have to focus in practice on working hard, fixing the little things, and pushing ourselves so that when we get into big games we can stay relaxed," Westby said. "We also have to focus on the last of our conference games because they are very important games that will hopefully get the ball rolling in a positive direction as we head into tournaments."

Noser echoed the sentiment, "For us moving towards tournament time we are focused on doing the little things that make a big difference in games and really applying the tools our coaches have taught us throughout the season. Our toughest opponent this season so far had been Malta, they are a solid team but we are excited and ready to play them again come tournament time."

This upcoming weekend, the Scotties will host the Poplar Indians and travel to Harlem to face the Wildcats. Glasgow defeated both teams earlier in the season and is looking to do so again. "We will have to play well to beat Poplar and Harlem," Graham said, "but we are excited to play two conference games."

Glasgow will play Poplar on Thursday, Feb. 11 with the four-minute quarters JV game beginning at 5 p.m. and the varsity team tipping off at 8 p.m. Both games will be shown on the NFHS Network and KLTZ will broadcast the varsity event. On Friday, Feb. 12, the Scotties will be in Harlem with another four-minute quarter JV game starting at 5 p.m. and varsity action at 7:30 p.m.