Scotties edge Harlem in final minute

It was about as crazy as 45 seconds could get.

With the Glasgow girls' basketball team up one point against Harlem in a back-and-forth shootout, and only 45 seconds left in the game, a pass was made to a curling Scotty and a beautiful look from 15 feet fell through the hoop, giving the Scotties a three-point lead in a game that either team found hard to lead by more than two.

The crowd erupted and cheers filled the gym at Glasgow High School.

But none of it counted.

Head coach Willie Thibault called a time out as the shot was being fired.

“That's the first time that's happened to me,” Thibault said. “I didn't like where we were at there, we got into a corner. It's just one of those things that happens, but you hate taking two points off the board.”

The timeout ended up being a better call as the Scotties avoided being fouled and dribbled out the final seconds by denying Harlem a touch of the ball. The Lady Cats nearly forced a turnover a few times as the clock wound down but never fouled to preserve any time on the clock, even though Glasgow struggled from the free-throw line all day, giving the Scotties a solid 49-48 win.

“I told our girls to protect the basketball and (Harlem) just played good defense,” Thibault said. “Harlem's playing well right now. They play hard and aggressive. They're a tough team to beat.”

Yet, the game didn't start quite as exciting as the finish.

Glasgow opened a big lead in the first quarter, by crashing the boards and forcing turnovers. The Scotties forced six of their 18 steals in the first quarter and by the end of the opening frame the Scotties held an 11-5 lead.

Harlem got back into the game early in the second quarter with a 6-0 run that brought the game to within one score, 13-11. The Lady Cats tied the game at 15-15 a little later and the play on the court soon resembled the back-and-forth action that would carry through until the final seconds of the game.

As the half ended pace picked up when Harlem's Jevie Doney hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Cats a 29-27 lead. On the next possession, Wildcats senior Jazz Dumas stole the ball and ran down the court to give Harlem a 31-27 lead and a ton of momentum heading into halftime.

But just as the Lady Cats seemed to be pulling away, Chloe Sukut forced a turnover and found a wide open Quinn Vaira, who layed in a bucket to narrow the lead to 31-29 at halftime.

Glasgow outscored the Lady Cats 9-8 in the third to set up an epic fourth quarter trailing by one 39-38.

The two teams traded threes to start the quarter and Glasgow stayed close to Harlem but couldn't quite pull even. The Lady Cats fell into foul trouble and Glasgow was in the double bonus with four minutes left in the game, yet the Scotties couldn't convert chances at the line to points, shooting only 37 percent from the line in the second half.

Glasgow was finally able to pull even with three minutes left in the game, when junior Hanna Schultz found Tiffany Wetzel open for three, tying the game at 46-46.

Harlem pulled ahead with two free throws from Rae Brown and Shelby Fossum answered with two free throws of her own with only 1:18 in the game.

The next possession, Jami Johnson was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws. Missing the first, Johnson hit her second shot giving the Scotties their first lead of the half, 49-48.

Harlem missed their next shot and Glasgow came back down the court for that fateful final 45 seconds.

“I wasn't nervous, I've got confidence in our kids to make good decisions,” Thibault said.

Wetzel led the Scotties in scoring on Friday, netting 11 points in the win. Fossum finished with 10 points and Rose Reyling and Taylor Markle each finished with eight points. Sukut scored five points, Johnson scored three and Vaira and Schultz each had two points.

With Saturday's game at Sidney postponed until Feb. 9, the Scotties got some rest and a little more practice in for their slate with Glendive on Friday, the only game for the girls this weekend.

The Red Devils bring plenty of problems, most of them in the form of 6-foot-3 Carly Selvig, who is four inches taller than any Scotty and still has the ability to shoot from outside. When the two teams met earlier this season, Selvig finished with 17 points in a 57-20 blowout for the Red Devils.
This time the Scotties will look to improve drastically on that mark and the results will start in the paint.

“We have to box out and do the fundamental things,” Thibault said. “This is the time of year you start to get better. I know we've improved (since the beginning of the season) but we haven't overachieved. In the past we've started to step up this time of year.”