The Glacier girls were in control all game against Missoula Hellgate on Thursday night. However, the difference didn’t show on the scoreboard until the Wolfpack was able to get out of its own way.

Glacier scored just six points in the final 10 minutes of the first half, shooting 1 for 10 from the field and committing 10 turnovers in the stretch.

The Wolfpack (15-4 overall, 8-3 Western AA) opened the game shooting 54 percent with 12 of their first 15 points scored in the paint. Once Hellgate (8-12, 3-9) was able to pack in its zone defense, sometimes dropping all five players below the free-throw line, baiting for Glacier to shoot from deep. When the Wolfpack struggled to get the ball inside, it settled for 3-point shots, but was only able to convert on 1 of 5 attempts in the second quarter, taking a 21-17 lead into halftime.

“We weren’t patient,” Glacier coach Kris Salonen said. “We were jacking up on the outside. Then we had some dumb fouls. They were able to get to the free-throw line and had an opportunity to get on the board.

“We came out with a great third quarter. That was nice.”

Glacier loosened up after the break and its play followed suit. The Wolfpack scored on each of its first six possessions of the third quarter, including three 3-pointers, to build a commanding 35-19 lead. The Wolfpack front line pulled in three offensive rebounds to keep plays alive in the stretch and Glacier’s defense forced the Knights into turnovers on their first three trips down the court.

Glacier went up by 20 points later in the quarter after holding Hellgate without a field goal for more than three minutes. The Wolfpack led 48-27 after the third.

A lull to start the fourth saw Hellgate cut the Glacier lead to 50-39 with four minutes to play but the Wolfpack closed on a 7-2 run and forced the Knights into 0 for 5 shooting to end any hope of a comeback.

“We have to have confidence,” Salonen said. “We have to be playing well right now to have confidence going into the playoff next week and heading into the state tournament.

“Any game like this, where you can win big, that’s just a confidence boost.”

Glacier will host Flathead tonight in the final game before the state play-ins next week.

The Wolfpack is currently tied with Missoula Sentinel for the second seed in Western AA after the Spartans (16-3, 8-3) lost to top-ranked Helena Capital 36-34 on Thursday but would be seeded third on a tiebreaker. Sentinel closes at home against Helena High (8-11, 4-7) on Saturday.

The Wolfpack would need both a win against Flathead and a Sentinel loss to claim the second seed and another game against the seventh-seeded Bravettes. Barring that, Glacier would play sixth-seeded Hellgate one more time next week.

Hellgate    13    4    10    14    —    41

Glacier    16    5    27    9    —    57

HELLGATE — Darby Henthorn 2 8-10 13, Lexi Duce 1 3-4 5, Kylie McWilliams 0 1-2 1, Katie Stahl 2 1-5 6, Kara Hogan 3 0-0 6, Claire Hinther 1 0-0 3, Kaci Paffhausen 2 0-0 4, Sydney Riddle 1 1-2 3. Totals 12-35 14-23 41.

GLACIER — Katie Wiley 3 0-2 6, Tessa Krueger 7 0-0 14, Brielle Bumgarner 1 0-0 2, Taylor Salonen 4 1-2 12, Hailee Bennett 5 3-5 16, Hailey Ruggles 1 0-0 2, Nikki Krueger 0 2-2 2, Ali Williams 1 1-2 3. Totals 22-55 7-13 57.

3-point goals — Hellgate 3-9 (Henthorn, Stahl, Hinther), Glacier 6-15 (Salonen 3, Bennett 3). Rebounds — Hellgate 23 (Stahl 7), Glacier 35 (Bennett 7). Total fouls — Hellgate 9, Glacier 18. Fouled out — none.

BOYS

Hellgate 72, Glacier 56

MISSOULA — Glacier took a 16-14 lead after the first quarter but couldn’t keep pace with No. 1 Hellgate over the next 16 minutes, falling behind by 23 in a blowout loss to the Knights.

Sam McCamley had 12 points, all on 3-pointers, and Jaxen Hashley had 11 for the Wolfpack, which outscored Hellgate by seven in the final quarter but couldn’t make up for scoring just five points in the third.

Tres Tinkle had a game-high 36 points for Hellgate.

Glacier    16    13    5    22    —    56

Hellgate    14    25    18    15    —    72

GLACIER — Kade McCutcheon 2 3-5 7, Sam McCamley 4 0-0 12, Tucker Rauthe 0 0-2 0, Jaxen Hashley 5 1-5 11, Noah Lindsey 2 0-0 5, Cain Boschee 1 0-0 2, Dylan Ruggles 1 0-0 3, Jaden Gilman 4 0-2 8, Cody Nordberg 1 1-1 3, Truman Pisk 2 1-2 3, Josh Hill 0 0-2 0. Totals: 22 6-19 56.

HELLGATE — Tres Tinkle 15 4-10 36, Buckley Belcourt 2 0-0 5, Rhett Baerlocher 2 2-2 8, Devin Bray 2 2-2 7, Mark Lebsock 4 1-2 10, Connor Schenk 1 0-1 2, Brayden Frohlich 2 0-0 4. Totals: 28 9-17 72.

3-point goals - Glacier 6 (McCamley 4, Lindsey 1, Ruggles 1), Hellgate 7 (Tinkle 2, Baerlocher 2, Belcourt 1, Bray 1, Lebsock 1). Total fouls – Glacier 15, Hellgate 17. Fouled out – none.