Glacier rode the scoring of senior Nikki Krueger in the first half en route to a 51-43 victory over rival Flathead in a Western AA girls basketball state tournament play-in game on Thursday evening at Flathead High School.

Krueger, who led all scorers with 19 points, had 13 by halftime as Glacier held a 28-18 advantage.

The Wolfpack stayed on the offensve in the third quarter to go in front 41-26.

Flathead (10-11), which struggled to generate much offense all night, finally broke lose with a 17-point fourth quarter as Tiana Johnson scored 12 of those points. She finished with 16.

Glacier struggled at the free-throw line, going 12 for 30 while Flathead was 7 for 11.

The victory advances Glacier (8-13) to Class AA state tournament play next week in Great Falls.

Glacier 10 18 13 10 — 51

Flathead 9 9 8 17 — 43

GLACIER — Ellie Stevens 0 3-4 3, McKenna Hulslander 2 0-0 4, Cadie Williams 1 2-9 4, Ahna Kreitinger 2 1-1 6, Brynn McChesney 1 0-0 3, Nikki Krueger 6 5-8 19, Anna Schrade 2 1-6 6, Courtney Mitchell 0 0-2 0, Kali Gulick 3 0-0 6. Totals: 17 12-30 51.

FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 2 3-4 8, Mary Heaton 2 0-0 4, Kelsey Gillespie 1 4-4 6, Taylor Henley 0 0-2 0, Tiana Johnson 7 0-1 16. Totals: 16 7-11 43.

Eastern AA

State Tournament Play-In Game

At Billings West

Great Falls 9 15 14 10 — 48

Billings West 13 7 16 13 — 49

Great Falls (10-11) — Morgan Evans 7, Hannah Collins 29, Molly Schmitz 8, Dani Devlin 2, Shea LaRocque 2.

Billings West (13-6) — Raquel Jimenez 19, Brianna Shirley 7, Ambreya Windy Boy 5, Taylor Kappel 2, Shayla Montague 8, Megan Brown 6, Shea Dolan 2.