Helena High edges GFH girls
Earlier this week, Great Falls High head coach Jerry Schmitz made a comment about his team not shooting particularly well in its team scrimmage.
It remained true for the Bison in their season opener Friday night at Swarthout Fieldhouse, where several hundred fans looked on.
“We shot very poorly from the free-throw line this game,” senior point guard Hannah Collins said. “I think if we would’ve made our free throws the game would have turned out totally different.”
Instead, the game finished in the favor of the visiting Helena High Bengals, a 61-53 decision. The Bison (0-1) were 14 for 32 from the stripe.
“Free throws late,” Schmitz said. “And maybe part of that is maybe we’re not in quite the shape we need to be in. But we should be able to make a free throw in the fourth quarter. We have to be able to do that. We want to get to the foul line, so we have to make free throws.”
A Danielle Devlin jumper sliced the deficit to 54-52 with 3:13 left. But then Great Falls High turned the ball over on two straight possessions and continued its forgettable day at the line.
“I saw so many good things,” Schmitz said. “We have a lot of kids without any experience getting out there and contributing. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors. I think we can be really, really good.
“I’m really excited because that’s a deep, talented team we played with a lot of experience and we were right there. We gave ourselves a chance to win, we just didn’t make some plays.”
The Bengals, which reached the state tournament a year ago and return several players back from that team, set the tone early.
Before even a minute had gone off the clock, they were up 6-0.
For the game, Helena’s sophomore post Jamie Pickens and Kendra Kloker each scored a game-high 15 markers. Collins totaled 14 for the Bison, while Sarah Dutro managed 10.
Down 6-0, the Bison climbed back in it courtesy of Collins. The Montana State-Billings signee strung together back-to-back slick baseline drives, capping a 9-2 flurry for a one-point advantage.
Collins, the sole returning starter off of last year’s state runner-up squad to begin the 2016-17 campaign because of injuries to Molly Schmitz and Emma Madsen, only scored four points in the remaining 11-plus minutes of the half.
It will take some time to gel, she said.
“It is different,” Collins said of playing with an entirely new roster. “It is a process. I know it’s going to take time. But I’m looking forward to it and still feel like our team is going to be where we need to be by the end of the season.”
Even with the Bengals (1-0) limiting Collins on the offensive end, the Bison remained in control, holding a 29-25 cushion at intermission as Helena High head coach Eric Peterson’s squad struggled to get shots to fall.
Jorgie Hawthorne, a 5-foot-11 freshman for Great Falls High, tallied three straight baskets toward the end of the half.
“She played four quarters of (junior varsity), so we just had her for a quarter,” Jerry Schmitz said. “We had her for a quarter, I thought we might have some foul trouble. But she really played well. We’ve seen that in the scrimmage and everything. She’s a good player. We’ll count on her to give us some minutes.”
The Bengals came alive during the third stanza.
Senior guard Sam Holman scored four makers in the span of four seconds, Hailey Crawford swished a triple and Pickens knocked down a jumper in rhythm as they built a 40-31 lead with 3:07 left, causing Schmitz to call timeout.
A little more than three minutes later, the Bison knotted the game at 42-all.
Great Falls High senior Delaney Leo began the run with a 3-pointer and Erin Hocker finished it off with two consecutive buckets, the final one an offensive rebound and conversion right before the buzzer sounded.
“I was definitely proud of we fought back,” Collins said. “We got down a couple times in the second half, but we just continued to fight, and I was very proud of our effort tonight.”
Kloker buried two treys midway through the fourth quarter as the Bengals capitalized at the free throw line down the stretch, converting on 5 for 6 in the final minutes as they pulled away late.
HHS 13 12 17 19 – 61
GFH 17 12 13 11 – 53
HHS – Sam Holman 5 3-5 13, Kendra Kloker 5 2-3 15, Hailey Crawford 1 0-1 3, Kamden Hilborn 1 0-1 2, Taelyr Krantz 4 0-0 8, Jessica Ellsworth 2 0-1 5, Jamie Pickens 2 11-13 15. Totals: 20 16-24.
GFH – Morgan Evans 2 1-3 5, Hannah Collins 4 5-10 14, Sarah Dutro 4 1-6 10, Katie Nicholson 0 3-6 3, Jorgie Hawthorne 3 0-1 6, Delaney Leo 2 0-0 5, Danielle Devlin 1 4-4 6.
Total fouls – HHS 23, GFH 19. Fouled out – Crawford, Evans, Devlin. 3-pointers – Kloker 3, Crawford 1, Collins 1, Dutro 1, Leo 1.