Glasgow Says No-Go to Choteau

A decade had passed since the Scottie girls basketball team brought home hardware from the Northern B Divisional tournament. This year Glasgow defeated Choteau in the consolation game, 42-35 to take the trophy. A Malta win over Fairfield in the championship game denied the Scotties a chance to challenge for a state tournament berth.

Though the team did not get to challenge, senior Alexys Mann said, "The highlight of the tournament for me was getting to play my last game with these girls and ending it on a W." Fellow senior Riley Noser helped lead the team from the bench. She missed the last few weeks of the season after an injury sidelined her. "Obviously I wanted to be playing but I was grateful to be with my team and be a great supporter for them on the bench. I'm incredibly proud of my teammates for pushing through and working hard all season!"

Glasgow's journey to the Saturday night game began with a 39-33 win over Shelby on Thursday. Friday, Glasgow lost to the eventual second-place Fairfield Eagles, 33-26. The loss pitted Glasgow against Cut Bank the next morning, in which the Scotties easily handled the Wolves 49-26.

The Scotties win over Shelby in their first game of the Divisional tournament was nowhere near assured. A slow start by Glasgow saw them down 8-4 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter initially saw Shelby gain ground until a surge by Glasgow in the last minute brought them within a bucket. Shelby took a 15-13 lead into the locker room at the break.

Glasgow outscored Shelby by a single point when the teams returned to the hardwood for the third quarter. Sensing the momentum had shifted in their favor, the Scotties pounced in the final eight minutes of play, outscoring Shelby 17 to 10. Two threes from Abrianna Nielsen, a critical steal and layup from Daley Aune and multiple trips to the line by Tyann Graham propelled the Scotties to the victory.

Aune and Nielsen led the team in scoring with 12 and 11 respectively. Graham was close behind with 8 points. Carly Nelson added 4 while Blaire Westby and Mann had 2 each. The Scotties turned in a fairly clean game with only 10 total fouls, five in each half. Nelson was called for three while Graham, Aune and Mann had two each and Nielsen one.

Friday, the Scotties hung with the Eagles for most of the game, but a fourth quarter fouling spree cost Glasgow heavily. Glasgow led 7-5 at the end of the first and both teams scored 8 points in the second quarter for a 15-13 Scottie advantage at the half.

Fairfield outscored Glasgow 7-3 in the third quarter, including going 3-of-4 from the line. The Scotties sent the Eagles to the charity stripe over and over in the fourth quarter, where the opposing team hit 11 of 15 attempts as they went on to outscore Glasgow 13 to 8.

Aune put in 10 points for the Scotties including a shot from beyond the perimeter. Nielsen hit two treys for 6 points while Nelson and Mann added 4 each and Westby had 2. Nielsen and Aune both fouled out of the contest. Mann and Nelson had three fouls each and Graham and Westby were called for two each.

In a do-or-die game against the Cut Bank Wolves, Glasgow did. Aune powered her team to a 15-5 lead after eight minutes, putting in 9 points, including 3-of-4 at the free throw line. The Wolves put up 7 points to the Scotties' 5 in the next eight minutes, but Glasgow held firmly to their lead at the half, 20-12.

The third quarter was all Glasgow as the team blew up the scoreboard with 21 points while allowing Cut Bank to put up only 6 on their side. Nielsen put in six field goals for 12 points while Aune contributed 5 points and Graham hit two shots for 4 points. Both teams put up 8 points in the final eight minutes giving Glasgow the 49-26 win.

Nielsen scored 18 points in the game to lead all scorers with Aune right behind her with 16. Nelson added 7 and Graham had 4 points for the Scotties. Westby and Mann both scored two points. Glasgow turned in one of the cleanest games of the years, allowing only seven fouls over four quarters. Nelson was called for three, Aune two and Westby and Nielsen one each.

The victory sent Glasgow to the consolation game Saturday night against the Choteau Bulldogs where the Scotties took the 42-35 win to secure third place. Glasgow leapt out to a 12-6 lead in the first quarter with five Scotties scoring. Both teams put up 10 points in the second quarter sending Glasgow to the locker room with a 22-16 lead.

Glasgow extended their lead after the break, putting up 11 points and holding Choteau to 8. Glasgow hit 5 of 7 from the free-throw line in the final quarter as they scored 9 points. The Bulldogs put up 11 from the field, but were unable to overcome the deficit created by the Scotties.

Graham scored from all over the court to lead the Scotties with 11 points. Aune contributed 10 points while Nielsen scored 8 and Mann added 7, including 3-of-3 at the line. Westby scored 4 points and Nelson had 2 points. Westby was called for three fouls while Graham and Aune had two each. Nielsen, Nelson and Mann had one foul a piece.

With a divisional trophy to display in the champions case at the high school, Coach Travis Nielsen anticipates building on his program's success. "The team and myself feel that we came up short of our goal of what we could do this year with a team that we had," he said, "and we will be returning a great set of players for next year."

One of those returning players is Graham, who also expressed disappointment over not making it to the next level. "I'm proud of my teammates because we never give up. We fight hard until the end," she said. "I'm really looking forward to next season because we have a lot of good returning players." A. Nielsen shared a similar sentiment, "We are a pretty young team and I'm looking forward to picking up where we left off this year and taking it state."

There will be an adjustment as the team loses seniors Mann and Noser, but Nielsen will be looking for underclassmen to start playing together when the summer program begins in anticipation of next year's season. Nielsen said, "The season overall was challenging at times but with the kids we have in our program makes it so much easier to coach."