MISSOULA AND KALISPELL – Kalispell Glacier and Missoula Sentinel met up for a pair of Western AA basketball clashes on Tuesday, and both games came down to a final shot with seconds left and the ball in the hands of a Wolfpack senior guard.
Anna Schrade hit a buzzer beater to give Glacier’s girls a 41-39 win over Sentinel. In the boys game, Caden Harkins’ last attempt missed, and Sentinel hung on 65-62.
Schrade’s heroics finished off the most impressive win of the year for the Wolfpack. They stayed step-for-step with the highly ranked Spartans throughout the game, trailing by only two points entering the fourth quarter. Glacier took a one-point lead late in the fourth, and Sentinel tied the game 39-39 on a free throw in the final minute.
But the Wolpack still had enough time for one final possession. Schrade took an off-balance, one-handed shot from the left elbow that went in as the buzzer sounded, giving Glacier a thrilling win.
Kali Gulick led Glacier with 17 points. Shelby Schweyen scored 18 to lead the Spartans.
The loss drops first-place Sentinel to 9-2 in the Western AA conference. The Spartans can still clinch a share of the regular-season title with a win at Kalispell Flathead on Saturday. Glacier improves to 5-6 in league and holds fourth place at the moment.
The boys game didn’t have the same remarkable buzzer-beating shot, but it came close.
Sentinel led for most of the first half, but Glacier made a big comeback in the third quarter. A nearly full-court shot at the buzzer of the third by Sam Beighle gave Sentinel back a one-point lead.
After the Spartans built a lead again in the fourth, Glacier came back in the final minute. Brec Rademacher hit a 3-pointer in the corner to cut Sentinel’s lead to 63-62 with 30 seconds left. Sentinel hit a couple free throws on the other end to extend the lead back to three, and Harkins’ contested shot from the top of the key in the final seconds bounced off the left side of the rim. Beighle grabbed the rebound, and time ran out.
Beighle continued his outstanding senior season with 34 points in the game. Kody Jarvis led the way for Glacier with 26 points.
Sentinel improves to 10-1 in conference play and clinches first place in the Western AA with one game left in the season. Glacier falls to 6-5 in league.
