Glacier sweeps Butte hoops teams
The Glacier Wolfpack boys’ basketball team started out hot Saturday in its Western AA battle with Butte High at Glacier High School.
Then it got hotter.
By the end of a 70-50 win over the Bulldogs – the first half of a sweep by Glacier’s boys’ and girls’ teams – the Wolfpack had buried 14 of 22 3-pointers. That mark included an 8-for-10 performance after halftime at the Wolf Den.
That derailed any chance of a comeback for the Butte boys, who fell to 3-5 overall, 2-3 in league. And it was a nice capper to the weekend for Glacier coach Mark Harkins, whose club is 5-3, 2-2.
“We were 10 for 17 last night (from three),” Harkins noted, recalling Friday’s 70-42 home loss to Hellgate. “That’s a good shooting weekend.”
It helped that Butte isn’t quite the powerhouse that is unbeaten Hellgate, though the Bulldogs boast 6-foot-8 Jake Olson, who had 22 points against Flathead Friday.
Olson, facing double-teams throughout, managed seven Saturday.
“I think it started with our defense,” said senior Drew Engellant, who joined three teammates in double figures with 10 against Butte. “We came out with a really strong defense and locked down the players we needed to, and that translated to our offense.
“We shot confidently, we found the outside shooters and played inside-out.”
Enter Weston Price, who worked the low post to erase Butte’s 2-0 lead just a minute into the game. His next time down the floor he bombed in a three.
“He’s a tough ‘guard,’ ” Harkins said of Price, a 6-5 junior. “He can post up inside and he as a really nice touch on the 3-point line.”
Price hit a 3-pointer to start a 12-0 Glacier run that pushed its lead to 34-16 just before halftime. He added a drive for another basket, and a fast-break layup by Keifer Spohnhauer capped the surge. Butte came no closer than 13 points after that.
Price went 3-for-4 from the arc on the way to a game-high 17 points.
“Weston was great tonight,” Engellant said. “He didn’t miss. He came out confident and any shot he took, it went in.”
Michael Schwarz hit four 3-pointers on the way 12 points for Glacier. Spohnhauer had three triples and 13 points. Engellant had seven rebounds, all in the second half.
Cael Stenson led Butte with 13 points and five rebounds.
Butte 12 6 17 15 — 50
Glacier 13 21 16 20 — 70
BUTTE – Blake Drakos 2-6 0-0 5, Cael Stenson 5-7 1-2 13, Jake Olson 3-8 1-3 7, Tommy Mellott 1-7 2-2 4, Andrew Booth 2-10 0-0 6, Ryan Burt 1-3 0-0 2, Kenley Leary 2-7 0-0 5, Mikey O’Dell 3-7 0-0 8, Dillon Ferry 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Loos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 5-7 50. 3-point goals 8-26 (Stenson 2-3, O’Dell 2-5, Booth 2-8, Drakos 1-3, Leary 1-4). Rebounds 26 (Drakos 5, Stenson 5). Fouls 9. Steals 13 (Mellott 13). Turnovers 11.
GLACIER – Drew Engellant 3-5 4-5 10, Weston Price 7-10 0-0 17, Keifer Spohnhauer 5-7 0-0 13, KJ Johnson 3-7 0-0 9, Michael Schwarz 4-5 0-0 12, Jaxson Olsen 2-4 0-0 4, Colin Presnell 0-2 0-0 0, JT Allen 1-1 0-0 2, Dillon Riffle 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Olsen 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 26-42 4-5 70. 3-point goals 14-22 (Schwarz 4-5, Price 3-4, Spohnhauer 3-7, Johnson 3-7, T. Olsen 1-1). Rebounds 27 (Engellant 7). Fouls 12. Steals 7 (Spohnhauer 2). Turnovers 19.
Late Friday
Hellgate 17 16 17 20 — 70
Glacier 8 14 13 7 — 42
MISSOULA HELLGATE (8-0, 4-0) – C. LaRance 6 4-4 19, B. Arthur 3 0-0 6, B. Johnson 4 1-3 9, J. Wade 3 0-0 6, R.. Worster 9 2-2 24, I. Finch 0 2-2 2, B. Coladonato 1 0-0 3, J. Salonen 0 0-0 0, K. McWilliams 0 0-0 0, A. Gilham 0 0-0 0, B. Calaghan 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 9-11 70. 3-point goals 8 (Worster 4, LaRance 3, Coladonato). Fouls 8.
GLACIER (1-2, 4-3) – Drew Engellant 4 0-1 11, Weston Price 4 0-1 9, Keifer Spohnhauer 2 0-0 6, KJ Johnson 0 0-0 0, Michael Schwarz 3 0-0 9, Jaxson Olsen 1 1-2 4, Colin Presnell 0 0-0 0, TJ Allen 1 1-2 3, Ty Olsen 0 0-0 0, Tyler Hausmann 0 0-0 0, Dillon Riffle 0 0-0 0, Luke Bilau 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 2-6 42. 3-point goals 10 (Engellant 3, Schwarz 3, Spohnhauer 2, J. Olsen, Price). Fouls 14.
Girls
Glacier 64, Butte 55
The Wolfpack girls had a little tougher time with the Bulldogs, who pressed throughout and forced 19 turnovers.
Between Aubrie Rademacher’s free throws for a 58-45 Glacier lead with 5:16 left and Ellie Keller’s one freebie at 1:37 – making it 61-54 – the Pack was able to beat the press for one basket, by Emma Anderson.
Critical to the win was the last two minutes of the first half: Butte (4-4, 2-3), down 25-17, got the gap to 29-28 on a 3-pointer by Brooke McGrath and two MacKenzie Tutty free throws.
Glacier (3-5, 2-2) scored nine straight points to lead 38-28. A basket by Anderson and a steal and layup by Keller began things.
Aubry Grame added a 3-pointer before Keller added two free throws with :04 left.
“They stepped up to the challenge,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said of her team, which was coming off a 61-37 loss at Hellgate. “There was a timeout late in the half and I said, ‘We can end this half our way or we can let Butte do what they want to.’ ”
Keller and Rademacher scored 15 points each for Glacier, while Anderson added 12 and Kenzie Williams chipped in with 10.
Haley Herron had a game-high 16 for Butte, while Tutty finished with 13.
The next action for Glacier is against Flathead: the girls’ play their cross-town game Thursday at 7:15 p.m.; the boys’ square off Friday.
Butte 7 21 11 16 — 55
Glacier 14 24 14 12 — 64
BUTTE – Trisha Ericson 1 1-1 4, Makenna Carpenter 2 0-0 6, Haley Herron 5 5-6 16, MacKenzie Tutty 2 8-13 13, Grace McGrath 2 1-2 7, Kodie Hoagland 0 0-0 0, Tylar Clary 1 1-3 3, Brooke McGrath 1 0-0 3, McCaul McCarthy 1 1-3 3. Totals 15 17-26 55. 3-point goals 8 (G. McGrath 2, Carpenter 2, Erickson, B, McGrath, Herron, Tutty). Rebounds 37 (Herron 10, McCarthy 9). Fouls 22. Fouled out – Carpenter. Steals 10 (3 with 2). Turnovers 20.
GLACIER – Aubrie Rademacher 4 7-8 15, Ellie Keller 3 8-13 15, Emma Anderson 6 0-0 12, Kaylee Fritz 2 0-0 5, Kenzie Williams 4 0-2 10, Sidney Gulick 1 2-5 4, Aubry Grame 1 0-0 3, Blayke Foppiano 0 0-0 0, Janessa Henson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 17-26 64. 3-point goals 4 (Williams 2, Fritz, Keller). Rebounds 34 (Rademacher 10). Fouls 19. Fouled out – Rademacher, Gulick. Steals 12 (Keller 4). Turnovers 19.
Standings
Boys
Western AA
Conf. Overall
Missoula Hellgate 4-0 8-0
Helena Capital 3-1 6-2
Missoula Sentinel 3-1 6-1
Glacier 2-2 5-3
Helena 2-2 3-5
Butte 2-3 3-5
Flathead 1-3 1-6
Missoula Big Sky 0-5 0-9
Tuesday
Missoula Hellgate 72, Flathead 32
Missoula Sentinel 60, Helena 36
Helena Capital 72, Missoula Big Sky 44
Thursday
Helena 54, Missoula Big Sky 48
Friday
Butte 57, Flathead 55
Missoula Hellgate 70, Glacier 42
Saturday
Glacier 70, Butte 50
Helena Capital 72, Missoula Sentinel 59
Tuesday, Jan. 21
Columbia Falls at Flathead, 7:30 p.m.
Girls
Western AA
Helena Capital 4-0 8-0
Missoula Hellgate 3-1 7-1
Missoula Sentinel 3-1 7-1
Helena 2-2 4-4
Glacier 2-2 3-5
Butte 2-3 4-4
Flathead 1-3 2-5
Missoula Big Sky 0-6 0-9
Tuesday
Missoula Hellgate 49, Flathead 25
Missoula Sentinel 52, Helena 36
Helena Capital 53, Missoula Big Sky 16
Thursday
Helena 65, Missoula Big Sky 24
Friday
Butte 67, Flathead 39
Missoula Hellgate 61, Glacier 37
Saturday
Glacier 64, Butte 55
Helena Capital 53, Missoula Sentinel 42
Tuesday, Jan. 21
Flathead at Columbia Falls, 6 p.m.