Hailey Hoagland set ’em up, and Natalee Faupel knocked ’em down..
Hoagland scored the game’s first six points — within eight seconds — to give the Bulldogs the lead for good Thursday night at the Butte Civic Center.
Then Faupel scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the second half as the Bulldogs turned up the heat after the intermission and rolled to a 56-31 non-conference win over Helena High Thursday night at the Butte Civic Center.
“We just knew we had to come out strong,” Faupel said after the Bulldogs led 28-19 at halftime. “The first half was good, but we knew we had to do better. Stuff just started falling, and we started being more aggressive.”
Hoagland, a junior, scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half, accounting for half of the Bulldog points.
“She’s a stud,” Faupel, a senior, said of Hoagland. “She’s so smart. She knows what to do with the ball.”
Faupel added nine rebounds, while Hoagland grabbed eight. The both collected five steals.
Butte High hit seven 3-point goals, with five different players dialing in on at least one long ball.
Erika McLeaod joined Hoagland with two and scored eight points. Sammy McGree and Hattie Thatcher each scored four points. Thatcher also notched seven assists and six steals.
Mariah Ricahrdson and Andie Hogan both scored three, while Bethany McLean and Maria Michelotti scored two. Ashten McCloskey also contributed to the win.
“We even improved from the Belgrade game, if that’s possible,” Faupel said. “Everyone can take it to the hole, everyone can shoot, everyone has a weapon that the defender isn’t ready for. It’s exciting.”
Butte High coach Jeff Arntson said the halftime change was to switch to a zone defense and get the ball more to Faupel at the post.
“We got a few things off that half-court trap,” the coach said. “We did a much better job getting the defensive rebound in the second half after the zone.”
Arntson also praised his team’s passing. The Bulldogs tallied 14 assists as a team.
“We made some nice passes to (Faupel) in the second half,” Arntson said. “We made a few adjustments to get her the ball.”
Not giving up on shooting was also key in the win.
“The kids missed some of those outside shots and they got down on themselves,” Arntson said. “I said keep shooting the damn ball. They were all good shots.”
Callie Kanthack and Shanna Floerchinger each scored 10 points to lead the Bengals, who made their season debut. Floerchinger also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Butte High, which beat Belgrade Tuesday night, is 2-0 and has a week before its next game.
The Bulldogs play at Helena Capital next Thursday.
HELENA HIGH (0-1) — Alex Askin 0 0-0 0, Jenna Starke 0 2-3 2, Regan Fruh 2 0-0 4, Dani Norling 1 1-4 3, Callie Kanthack 4 2-4 10, Kenzie Tanniehill 0 2-4 2, Alyssa Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Shanna Floerchinger 5 0-1 10, Alecia Norling 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 7-16 31.
BUTTE HIGH (2-0) — Hailey Hoagland 5 2-3 14, Natalee Faupel 5 5-7 16, Sammy McGree 2 0-0 4, Erika McLeod 3 0-0 8, Hattie Thatcher 1 2-2 4, Mariah Richardson 1 0-0 3, Bethany McLean 1 0-2 2, Ashten McCloskey 0 0-0 0, Maria Michelotti 1 0-0 2, Andie Hogan 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 9-12 56.
Helena High 11 8 4 8 — 31
Butte High 14 14 14 14 — 56
3-point goals — Helena 0, Butte 7 (Hoagland 2, McLeod 2, Faupel, Richards, Hogan). Fouls — Helena 15, Butte 18. Fouled out — Michelotti. Technicals — none.
The following photos were taken by Bret Graden. To buy high-quality copies of these photos or others like them, go to gradenphotography.com.
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