MISSOULA- Chloe Larson poured in 32 points and Alix Mund added 10 to spark the Hellgate Knights to their first win of the calendar year over Butte High late on Thursday night (¼) in Missoula.
“This is just what we needed to start the season off,” said Larson. “Everyone stepped up and played as a team which gave us momentum for our next game against Big Sky.”
Butte opened up the game with 5 quick unanswered points, thanks to Brityn Stewart who chipped in 23 of the Bulldawgs 43 total tallies for the night. Larson lit the first spark in Hellgate’s offense for the night, as she scored 8 unanswered points of her own to spot the Knights with their first lead of the contest. Hellgate never gave up that lead through the remainder of the game.
“I think really focusing on our defense for the next quarter helped us maintain that lead. We are a very strong and intense defensive team, so bringing that energy definitely helped us keep the lead,” said Larson.
Defense indeed opened up quarter two, as the score would remain 15-12 for the first two minutes before Larson eventually drained a pair of free throws, and Butte’s Cadence Graham added a jumper and a shot from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs managed to crawl back to a 6-point deficit, before Mund sank a three-pointer of her own to send Hellgate to the locker room at half with a commanding 26-17 lead.
The Knights picked up right where they left off in half two with a 6-0 run, before Larson ran into some foul trouble and was forced to watch the remainder of the third quarter from the bench with 4 fouls. With Hellgate’s superb senior out of the game, Butte took the chance to pounce on the Knights and worked their way to a 10-1 run. Hellgate managed to hold Butte from regaining their early lead through 4 free throws from Mund and a jumper from Gianna Passuccio, but the damage on the scoreboard showed a 37-35 Hellgate lead, setting up for an entertaining finish.
“I picked up a dumb few fouls,” Larson said. “Butte kind of got back into the game while I was sitting, and that can be frustrating. But I do have trust in my team, and I know they all have the ability to score and are great on defense.”
The final eight minutes of the night saw Hellgate grit-out their hard fought win. Larson finished off her stellar night with an additional eight points, and the Knights went on a 5-0 run after a timeout with three minutes left on the clock. Butte did not go down easy, as Stewart would hit her best shot of the night. Her high-contested three, found the net forcing another Hellgate timeout with just over 60 ticks left on the clock. Hellgate came out of their huddle and held their own to come away with a 50-43 win to open up their 2024 calendar play.
“We came out hard and adjusted well to their press in the fourth quarter. Overall just very proud of us for sticking with it and finishing strong,” said Larson.
Hellgate is back in action this Saturday (1/6) at 5:30 P.M. (boys) and 7:15 P.M. at home against Big Sky to open up crosstown play for their respective seasons.
