By Bruce Sayler
The hockey tactic turned the trick, a hat trick, if you will with Montana Tech’s third victory over Providence of Great Falls this year.
It was Friday and in the quarterfinals of the Frontier Conference college women’s basketball tournament at the Butte Civic Center. Montana Tech won, 60-57. The energy was all in the line change. Probably.
“You have to play hard and be tough,” Montana Tech point guard Avery Carlson, a 5-foot-8 junior from Havre, said of head coach Jeff Graham’s ploy.
It is one that wins the last portion of quarters and owns momentum and seems to keep the energy level revved. But, as Carlson pointed out, “It’s about being able to run 10 kids in a game and not have just a few who can play.”
Carlson is a product to the way, Graham said.
“Havre hangs their hat on that and we came into the season in shape,” the coach said. “Our elevation here makes a difference, too. Just being able to play 2 or 2 ½ minutes harder (than the opponent) makes a difference.”
It is like a hockey line change. The Orediggers substitute three or four players at a time, like a mob cavalry coming to the rescue, though the Montana Tech isn’t often the team in need of such. The Orediggers will be playing in Sunday’s 2:30 p.m. semifinal as a result of the win Friday over the Argonauts. The Sunday opponent will be the winner of Saturday’s Montana Western-Carroll game, to tip off at 2:30.
The “line change” might benefit the Montana Tech defense almost as much as the fresh legs on the offense. Friday’s clash required such a tempo. The Argonauts and Orediggers will recognize one another easily the rest of their lives. They were in each others’ faces the whole time.
“The best two teams knew each other out there,” Graham said after his team ousted the defending league champion from the single-loss tournament. “They had to make some tough, contested shots and so did we.”
Both teams did. Some of the tougher shots weren’t contested though. Pressure free throws have a way of falling short or away much too often. Liz Wangerin, a 5-9 senior from Plentywood, didn’t appear to feel much of it, though, with a 12-for-12 effort from the foul line. She was a steely 4-for-4 in the final six seconds.
“This is exciting,” the Montana Tech winner of a Frontier Conference Champion of Character Award said. “I’m looking forward to playing more games.”
She did what she could extend her team’s season, including grabbing seven rebounds in the last 15 minutes of the wetsuit-tight game to finish with 10, accompanying her game-high 18 points. Her coach called her “a great leader.”
Teammates’ blocking out could be credited with some of the superb boardwork, but Wangerin’s instincts and hard work at position, holding ground and strength of grip deserved the bulk.
“We had the same stats, the stats were even,” veteran head coach Bill Himmelberg of Providence said, in even tones and with grace. “I’m not disappointed in our outside shots. We did enough to win the game, we just didn’t make the play at the end.”
Providence’s Madi Rebel scored on a jumper for a 14-9 lead with 1 minute, 22 seconds left in the first quarter. Montana Tech scored the next eight points of the frame and went into the second ahead by 17-14. Hadley Humphreys’ basket from inside the key gave the Orediggers the lead for good, 15-14, and then Brooke Badovinac tallied before the buzzer.
Still, the Argonauts played close. No lead exceeded eight points and most of the time, the margin between teams was four to five points. Play was so physical, it would’ve looked at home in an octagon.
So, hanging close on the scoring of Brooke Dial, McKenna Reggear and Reibel kept Providence hot on the victory trail. The Orediggers couldn’t afford to relax, not at any point. Wangerin had to mesh two freebies with 5 seconds left on the clock to secure the Montana Tech win.
Providence couldn’t get a good look at the basket against the rigid Oredigger man-to-man defense in the waning seconds, not on either of two tries. So, the buzzer sounded without a close attempt.
Another worthy foe fell victim to Montana Tech’s line-change subbing, and asking what the p… ?
The Argonauts battled a plethora of injuries through the season and still maintained a winning record. They were hit again Friday when Ainsley Thurber was helped off the court in the second half and was unable to return to the game. A knee injury was feared.
“Being healthy is a big part of college basketball,” Himmelberg said. “But (the Argos’ injuries) doesn’t take anything away from what Tech has done. You have to give them credit.”
Providence bows out with a 15-13 record while Dial finished with 14 points, Reggear with 13 and Reibel with 10. NAIA 15th-ranked Montana Tech will take a 22-4 mark into Sunday’s bout in the semifinals. Halle Haber had 13 points and Humphreys 12 to back Wangerin’s offensive efforts Friday. Carlson directed the floor game without committing a turnover.
That’s a line Graham doesn’t want to change.
