Cutler leads Pack by Dogs
By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter Lake
The Glacier Wolfpack have focused on defense for most of the early season and it paid off Tuesday night against the Whitefish Bulldogs.
The Wolfpack fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat the Bulldogs 78-77 in nonconference play at Glacier High School.
The Glacier defense clamped down in the second half while senior Ben Cutler took care of most of his team's offense. Cutler finished with 34 points, including a four-point play in the third quarter that ignited his team's comeback march. Junior Shay Smithwick-Hann finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds while senior point guard Ben Sansaver added 10 points for the Wolfpack (2-1). Colter Hanson hit a pair of three-pointers to finish with six points for Glacier.
"That's a big win for us, we've never won two in a row before," said Glacier coach Mark Harkins, whose team ended last season 3-18. "I was so proud of our defense and our rebounding. That's what we've wanted to work on from the start."
Whitefish's Colt Idol got hot early in the game, scoring 20 points in the first half, but found himself in foul trouble just as early. The 6-foot-3 senior, who committed to play basketball for Montana State next year, ended up fouling out in the fourth quarter, finishing with 24 points in just 14 total minutes.
"If you have one of the best players in the state in foul trouble and another senior starter who is an attribute on offense in foul trouble too, you're going to lose a little bit," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said.
Whitefish's David FauntLeRoy also fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Senior forward Josh Backer finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs (2-1). Marc Hotzfield chipped in nine points while Aaron Tkachyk added seven. Connor Silliker had seven points and six rebounds.
The Bulldogs grabbed a 26-15 lead in the first quarter and went into the break up 51-41. But the Glacier squad came out in the third quarter reinvigorated and held Whitefish to only 26 points in the second half.
The Wolfpack took its first lead of the game with 1:20 left after Hanson hit a three-pointer from the corner and brought the home crowd to its feet.
After that, it was a back-and-forth cardiac-arresting fourth quarter.
Whitefish's Idol peeled himself off the bench and tried sparking his team's offense by getting to the free throw line, and finished 11-13 from the charity stripe. But with 3:37 left in the game, the Bulldog all-star was forced out with a fifth and fatal foul. Moments later, starter FauntLeRoy followed. However, the Whitefish bench held up.
Hotzfield hit a three-pointer to give his team a 73-71 lead.
But Cutler and Co. kept their cool and sealed the team's first two-game win streak in school history.
"The kids played so hard in that second half," Harkins said. "They took their share of losing close ones last year, so to win a close one against such a quality opponent is neat for them."
"We did some things tonight that we didn't do last year, and I think that's the maturity and their hard work. Everything is a stepping stone."
Whitefish gave Class AA Wolfpack a run for its money and Stang said every team hits a bump in the road, but his squad will focus on staying on course.
"I told them tonight they don't need to hang their heads about anything, they came out and they played a tough game," Stang said. "It's just the way it goes you know. We don't want to let it affect us in a negative way."
Whitefish 26 25 14 12 - 77
Glacier 15 27 25 11 - 78
Whitefish (2-1) - Matt Whitehead 1 0-0 2, Aaron Tkachyk 2 2-3 7, Willie Roche 2 0-1 4, Josh Backer 10 2-6 22, Marc Hotzfield 3 2-4 9, Connor Silliker 2 3-5 7, Colt Idol 5 11-13 24, David FauntLeRoy 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 20-32 77.
Glacier (2-1) - Josh Doty 0 1-2 1, Connor Fuller 2 3-3 7, Colter Hanson 2 0-0 6, Shay Smithwick-Hann 4 6-8 14, Logan Quay 0 0-1 0, Mike Rasmussen 2 0-4 4, Ben Cutler 11 8-10 34, Chad Gassaway 1 0-0 2, Ben Sansaver 4 2-4 10. Totals 20 20-33 78.
3-point goals - Idol (2), Tkachyk, Hotzfield; Glacier: Cutler (4) Hanson (2); Rebounds - Whitefish 40, Glacier 40; Turnovers - Whitefish 14, Glacier 21; Team fouls - Whitefish 26, Glacier 24; Fouled out - Whitefish: Idol, FauntLeRoy. Glacier: Hanson