Bruins rule boards in win over Glacier boys

Helena Capital and Glacier put together a decent shooting contest Friday at the Wolf Den, where the visiting Bruins pulled away to an 87-59 Western AA boys basketball win.

The rebounding contest, though, was lopsided.

When it was all over – and the Bruins had used an 18-2 burst bridging into the fourth quarter to take command – Glacier had collected just 13 rebounds.

When Capital did manage to miss a shot, the Bruins generally got the board.

“Offensively we were great,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “Defensively and rebounding, we were terrible tonight. We didn’t get to the shooters and we didn’t box out.”

Point guard Parker Johnston, a 6-foot senior, had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Bruins. His bucket at 6:54 of the second quarter began a 15-2 Capital surge; Ryan Quinn’s 3-pointer capped it and made it 36-19 Bruins 3:00 before halftime.

Glacier hung in, getting a flurry of baskets from Weston Price in both the second and third quarters. Price, who scored a game-high 21, hit two free throws late in the third period to draw Glacier (8-9, 5-8 in league) to 61-49.

Capital (13-4, 10-3) held of a last shot – a miss by Johnston. But the Bruins’ Brayden Koch snared the rebound and scored at the buzzer. Koch and Bridger Grovom then hit 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter and suddenly the gap was 72-49.

Grovom hit four treys on the way to 15 points. Trevor Swanson scored 20 points on just seven field goal attempts for the Bruins. Koch hit three 3-pointers and scored 19.

“They shot very well, but again I think that’s because we didn’t pressure them very well on their end,” Harkins said. “We know they’re a great shooting team – we need to respond and cover out.”

Glacier, meanwhile, shot 53 percent from the floor. Capital coach Guy Almquist was worried about covering Price and fellow big man Drew Engellant.

“They’re unique in that they can both handle and shoot the three,” Almquist said. “We switched between two zones and man-to-man and quite frankly, none of them worked – until I think they maybe got tired at the end.”

Anthony Heath added 12 points for Glacier, which hosts Helena High today at 2 p.m.

Capital 21 19 23 24 - 87

Glacier 15 13 21 10 - 59

HELENA CAPITAL (13-4, 10-3) – Brayden Koch 8-13 0-0 19, Trevor Swanson 6-7 6-7 20, Shane Haller 2-3 1-2 5, Parker Johnston 8-12 0-0 16, Bridger Grovom 5-11 1-2 15, Ryan Quinn 1-2 0-0 3, Kaleb Metzger 1-3 0-2 2, Malachi Syvrud 0-3 2-4 2, Tyler Tenney 2-2 0-0 5, Ethan Maxness 0-0 0-0 0, Chase McGurran 0-0 0-0 0, Trystan Mooney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-56 10-17 87.

GLACIER (8-9, 5-8) – Drew Engellant 3-5 3-5 9, Weston Price 8-12 3-3 21, Kiefer Spohnhauer 1-6 0-0 3, Anthony Heath 5-8 0-0 12, Michael Schwarz 1-4 0- 3, Jonah Pate 0-0 0-0 0, JT Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Jaxson Olsen 3-5 0-0 6, Dillon Riffle 1-1 0-0 3, Luke Bilau 1-1 0-0 2, Connor Sullivan 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Olsen 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Hausman 0-1 0-0 0, Will Salonen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 6-8 59.

3-point goals – Capital 11-23 (Grovom 4-8, Koch 3-7, Swanson 2-3, Quinn 1-2, Tenney 1-1, Syvrud 0-2), Glacier 7-24 (Price 2-6, Heath 2-5, Schwarz 1-4, Spohnhauer 1-5, Riffle 1-1, Engellant 0-1, JOlsen 0-2). Rebounds – Capital 33 (Johnston 12), Glacier 13 (Price 3, Spohnhauer 3, JOlsen 3). Fouls – Capital 11, Glacier 13. Turnovers – Capital 5, Glacier 7.

Helena 53, Flathead 42

Hayden Ferguson’s 23 points led the way for the Helena Bengals, who moved to 7-10, 6-7 in the Western AA.

Ferguson scored 16 points in the second half to help a 25-18 lead hold up.

Joston Cripe hit five 3-pointers on the way to 21 points for the Braves (3-14, 2-11).

Helena 11 14 15 13 — 53

Flathead 9 9 15 9 — 42

HELENA — Evan Barber 2, Burgin Laker 2, Austin Zeiler 1, Hayden Ferguson 23, Kaden Huot 4, Logan Brown 7, Sam Norwin 14.

FLATHEAD — Tannen Beyl 5, Hunter Hickey 2, Gabe Adams 3, Ethan Vandenbosch 9, Gatlin Bruner 2, Joston Cripe 21.

Girls

Helena Capital 60,

Glacier 31

HELENA — A slow started doomed the Glacier girls, who fell behind 29-16 to the league-leading Bruins (16-1, 12-1 in the Western AA) at halftime.

Ellie Keller led the Wolfpack (8-9, 7-6 in league) with eight points. Paige Bartsch led Capital with 21 points.

Kalispell Glacier 4 12 11 4 — 31

Helena Capital 12 17 12 19 — 60

GLACIER — Ellie Keller 8; Kenzie Williams 5; Janessa Henson 5; Emma Anderson 4; Kaylee Fritz 3; Blake Foppiano 2; Aubrie Rademacher 2; Allee Meyer 2.

HELENA CAPITAL — Paige Bartsch 21; Mashayla O’Malley 9; Mara McGinley 9; Dani Bartsch 9; Ridlon Aryana 6; Jaymee

Helena 53, Flathead 26

HELENA —  McKayla Kloker led Helena High with a blistering 27 points as the Bengals rolled over the Flathead Bravettes in Western AA play on Friday.

Flathead trailed by 17 at the half.

Clare Converse led the Bravettes with nine points. Maddy Moy added seven.

Also adding to scoring for Helena (9-8 overall, 7-6 conference)

Flathead (5-12, 3-10) plays its final regular season game today, a 2 p.m. tip-off at Helena Capital.

The Western AA divisional tournament runs March 5-7 in Missoula.

Flathead 4 8 8 6 — 26

Helena 14 15 9 15 — 53

FLATHEAD — Clare Converse 9, Maddy Moy 7, Jenna Johnson 6, Bridget Crowley 2; Molly Winters 2.

HELENA — McKayla Kloker 27, Caroline Bullock 8, Abby Marcille 5, Riley Thennis 4, Kylie Lantz 3, Emily Feller 2, Maloree English 2, Liz Heuiser 1.