IDOLS SCORES 10 VS WYOMING
June 23, 2009 Northwest Montana A Conference
MONTANA-WYOMING BASKETBALL: Tinkle nets record 34 in final game as prep
By BILL BIGHAUS Billings Gazette BILLINGS - In what was her final shot at high school glory, Joslyn Tinkle seldom missed.
The 6-foot-3 center, who starred at Missoula Big Sky and is bound for Stanford, scored a record 34 points Saturday night in leading Montana to a come-from-behind 83-76 victory over Wyoming to complete a sweep in this year's girls' basketball all-star classic.
The Montana boys, however, had to settle for a split after Wyoming took a 90-86 win in overtime on Saturday. Playing in a lively and entertaining contest in front of a large crowd at Rocky Mountain College's Fortin Center, Tinkle, who also finished with 10 rebounds for an impressive double-double, scored 21 of her points in the second half as Montana overcame a one-point deficit late in the third quarter en route to victory.
Montana, which won 82-53 in Sheridan, Wyo., on Friday night, led by 19 points in the first half on Saturday at 39-20, but Wyoming, which knocked down 11 3-pointers on the night, took its only lead, 54-53, when Taylor Gardner nailed two free throws after being fouled on a drive with 49 seconds left in the third.
Montana's Monica Hollowell quickly answered with a basket from the side to make it 55-54 and the girls from the Treasure State never trailed again.
"We expected that," Tinkle said of having to fight to the finish in the stuffy Rocky gym. "They're a great team as well. After last night, we had a great game, but we knew they were going to come back feisty as ever wanting to get us back.
"They did a good job coming back, but we kept our composure and finished strong."
In fact, Montana opened the pivotal fourth quarter on an 11-0 run to lead 66-54 with 8:14 to play. Tinkle, with her dominating play inside, accounted for six of those points. Teammate Ashley Albert of Hamilton got the ball rolling by opening the final quarter with a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 58-54.
Cassidy Wendell added two free throws for a 60-54 cushion, before Tinkle scored off an offensive rebound, connected on a pair of free throws after fighting for a loose ball and added another basket on a strong move inside.
"We went to a smaller lineup to match up with them defensively and to isolate her down low," Montana coach Brian Henderson said of Tinkle's performance down the stretch. "She was able to go a little bit more one-on-one. Before that, there were too many double teams and triple teams and they tied us up a little bit.
"She's a great player and great players find a way to get things done."
Tinkle shot 13 of 17 from the field on the night and 8 of 11 from the foul line.
Her 34 points broke the single-game record of 29 points scored by Malta's Juliann Keller in the 2001 game at Sheridan. Her 55 points over the two nights also erased the old mark of 54 set in 2003 by Riverton's Kristen Newlin, who also went on to play at Stanford.
"That's quite a little coincidence," Tinkle said with a grin. "It was fun. I couldn't ask to play with better teammates. We had a ton of memories and laughs this weekend, and we were able to take it out on the court and be focused as well."
Montana, which connected on 14 of 17 free throws in the game's final 10 minutes, has now won four straight over Wyoming and leads the overall series 17-9.
Wyoming outscored Montana 39-32 in the second half to knot the game at 74-74 at the end of regulation.
Rage Geringer led Wyoming with 20 points and Michael Dietz added 19.
Kalispell Glacier's Ben Cutler led Montana with 22 points while Eric Halverson added 11 and 13 rebounds. Colt Idol of Whitefish netted 10.
Girls
Montana 83, Wyoming 76
Wyoming 12 20 22 22 - 76
Montana 24 16 15 28 - 83
Wyoming - Morgan Mines 7-18 5-7 22, Taylor Diehl 3-12 3-3 10, Nikki Tresch 2-8 0-0 6, Kebra Kallstrom 0-0 0-0 0, Jasmine Belin 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Gardner 4-8 8-8 18, Katie Strandholm 5-11 1-2 13, Taylor Anderson 2-10 0-0 5, Jordan Kent 0-0 0-0 0, Catie Lohse 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-69 17-20 76.
Montana - Megan Patterson 2-5 2-4 6, Rachel Semansky 1-4 1-2 3, Kalli McCloskey 1-2 0-0 2, Monica Hollowell 3-5 3-3 10, Joslyn Tinkle 13-17 8-11 34, Cassidy Wendell 2-4 4-4 9, Ashley Albert 3-10 2-2 9, Brianne Holland-Stergar 0-2 0-1 0, Kelsey Hildal 1-2 0-0 3, Chelsea Banis 3-7 1-5 7. Totals 29-59 21-32 83.
3-point goals - Wyoming 11 (Mines 3, Gardner 2, Strandholm 2, Tresch 2, Diehl, Anderson), Montana 4 (Hollowell, Wendell, Albert, Hildal). Total fouls - Wyoming 26, Montana 18. Fouled out - Standholm. Rebounds - Wyoming 23 (Gardner 9, Mines 7), Montana 48 (Tinkle 10). Turnovers - Wyoming 17, Montana 26.
Boys
Wyoming 90, Montana 86, OT
Wyoming 20 15 18 21 16 - 90
Montana 22 20 11 21 12 - 86
Wyoming - Michael Dietz 7-14 5-8 19, Tommy Earl 2-11 8-10 12, Chad Hopkins 4-9 0-0 9, Rage Geringer 6-11 3-4 20, Chaske Valdez 1-5 0-0 2, Matt Gross 0-2 3-9 3, Cameron Anderson 6-13 3-5 15, Michael Tucker 1-5 1-2 4, Cobi Eskew 0-7 0-0 0, Keeton Tucker 3-10 0-0 6. Totals 30-87 23-38 90.
Montana - Joel Barndt 1-5 3-3 5, Bryce Carver 3-7 3-4 10, Eric Halverson 4-10 3-4 11, Peter Stordahl 2-8 2-4 7, Gabe Rucker 2-6 0-0 5, Ben Cutler 8-11 1-1 22, Derek Lear 1-4 2-2 5, Colt Idol 3-7 4-4 10, Michael Crandell 2-10 1-3 7, Tanner Bleskin 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 27-71 21-27 86.
3-point goals - Wyoming 7 (Geringer 5, M. Tucker, Hopkins), Montana 11 (Cutler 5, Crandell 2, Lear, Stordahl, Rucker, Carver). Total fouls - Wyoming 21, Montana 25. Rebounds - Wyoming 59 (Dietz 11), Montana 50 (Halverson 13). Turnovers - Wyoming 16, Montana 22. |
NATIONAL
MONTANA
