"Are you ready to take over now?"

That's what Glacier coach Kris Salonen asked junior guard Nicole Heavirland when forward Cassidy Hashley fouled out with 2:36 remaining and the Wolfpack trailing by a bucket in Friday's Glacier-Helena Capital Western AA girls basketball game.

"I got scared," Salonen admitted.

"(Capital's) big girl was out, but (Bruin coach Bill Pilgeram) still had (Kaye) Bignell and he still pretty much had his players.

"You get nervous."

Salonen sent 5-foot-10 sophomore Hannah Atlee in to do battle down low and asked Heavirland if she was ready to take over.

"She said ‘yeah,'" Salonen said.

Heavirland scored eight of Glacier's last nine points - including a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left that broke the final tie - and Glacier (2-1) came away with a 50-47 victory over Helena Capital.

"She hits that big three, that's pretty gutsy. It's a tight game and she nails that," the coach said of Heavirland.

This was the first time the Wolfpack has ever beaten the Bruins, Salonen said.

"It wasn't pretty, obviously, but we'll take it. We'll take any win right now, especially a conference win. That's huge."

Heavirland finished with 21 points, all in the second half.

The fact that she hadn't scored a single point in the first half was nervewracking, Heavirland said.

"I got out of the locker room thinking that I didn't make a shot in the first half and I was kind of scared at first, but I knew to believe in myself and keep shooting," she said.

And when push came to shove in that final two minutes?

"It was just like any other time of the game. I was breathing normal and my shot was flowing. I feel like even though the pressure was on, my shot was the same, everything was the same.

"We worked as a team. We just played smart ... and we finished the game," she added.

Salonen gave credit to the other Wolfpack members as well.

"I've got 11 girls that I suit up. I think 10 of the 11 got on the court. That's where you want to believe that you can believe in every kid that's in here," the coach said.

"Tiffany Marks proved she can play varsity basketball. We've been getting her stronger and stronger. She came out and gave us a good 6 1/2 minutes," Salonen said.

"I've been watching Hannah (Atlee) in JV games. She's smart, she works hard and she's going to battle. That's the good stuff you want to know you have.

"We are going to have a good bench and people we can rely on.

"That's just big. Good stuff," Salonen said.

This one was nip and tuck all the way. The Bruins led 16-15 at the half and the game was tied at 28 after three quarters.

And then it got interesting.

There were eight lead changes and six ties in the fourth quarter alone.

Leaders for Glacier were Hashley with 15 points, 10 rebounds, a block and a steal, Rachel Chery with four points and three steals and Dayna Niebaum with seven points and six rebounds.

Jasyn Mulcahy lead the Bruins with 22 points and five rebounds and Julia Anderson with eight points and eight rebounds.

Salonen also complimented the play of point guard Amy Lybeck.

"I really challenged her the last couple of weeks. She's really stepped up, took care of the ball, ran the offense. I'm just proud of her."

Helena Capital 6 10 12 19 - 47

Glacier 5 10 13 22 - 50

Helena Capital - Alexa Welch 1 1-2 4, Maryann Beach 1 1-2 3, Sadie Pilgeram 1 0-0 2, Amy Nordahl 0 0-2 0, Jasyn Mulcahy 8 5-8 22, Kaye Bignell 3 2-2 8, Julia Anderson 2 4-4 8. Totals 16 13-20 47.

Glacier - Rachel Chery 1 2-3 4, Cassidy Hashley 5 5-10 15, Nicole Heavirland 6 7-11 21, Dayna Niebaum 3 1-2 7, Tiffany Marks 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 16-28 50.

3-point goals: Capital 2 (Welch, Mulcahy), Glacier 2 (Heavirland 2); Total fouls: Capital 23, Glacier 17. Fouled out: Anderson, Chery, Hashley.