HELENA – Jamie Pickens knew she needed to turn it on. The Helena High senior stepped up in the final 12 minutes of Friday’s conference opener against Kalispell Glacier, helping the Lady Bengals to a 43-39 win over the Wolfpack.
Pickens, the Montana Grizzly commit, scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. She also had four blocks, three steals and two assists while playing all 32 minutes. Fellow senior Kamden Hilborn made a pair of key buckets down the stretch, and helped ice the game at the free throw line. Hilborn had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Glacier showed why it owns only one loss on the season, taking a 14-13 lead after the opening quarter and a 19-17 advantage into the halftime locker room. But Pickens, Hilborn and Helena High surged in the third quarter, using a 13-7 run to retake the lead for good.
Pickens scored in every way imaginable in the final frame, knocking down jump shots, driving to the basket and scoring in the lane. Her 3-pointer with 3:53 remaining gave Helena High (6-0, 1-0) a five-point advantage.
Anna Schrade had a team-high 17 points for Glacier, which dropped to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the Western AA Conference.
