Spartans bull past Glacier

The Wolfpack still will by younger and less experienced than every team it faces this season. But the days of feeling wide-eyed and overwhelmed against elite opponents appear to be fading.

The Glacier High School boys' basketball team stood toe-to-toe with Western AA heavyweight Missoula Sentinel on Saturday before the Spartans thumped their way to a 69-55 victory.

Glacier (3-13, 0-8 Western AA) led 16-15 after one quarter, trailed 31-26 at halftime, and remained within three possessions late in the final frame, just seven weeks after an 89-63 drubbing at Sentinel.

Glacier junior guard Ben Cutler made three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes as the Wolfpack raced to a 21-15 lead. But the Spartans (14-2, 7-1), who boast seven players 6-foot-3 or taller, used their brawn to gain control of the glass and disrupt the Wolfpack's offensive rhythm.

Sentinel out-rebounded Glacier 46-29, closed the second quarter on a 14-4 run and held Glacier to 21 points in the middle quarters.

"They started getting physical with us," Cutler said. "They were able to hand-check us up top. They just got more physical, bodied us up."

Cutler scored a game-high 27 points, while Glacier sophomore forward Shay Smithwick-Hann tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, including 13 points in the second half.

Six-foot-3 Sentinel forward Mark Henkel had 19 points and six rebounds, and 6-foot-5 post Andy Garland added 10 points (including a thunderous fourth-quarter dunk) and seven boards. But the Wolfpack wouldn't let the Spartans' star big men run wild like they did while totaling 51 points on Dec 21.

"We wanted to make sure we could account for (Garland) and (Henkel), and I think we did that pretty well," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

"When we went zone, it was almost like a box-and-one. If there was a shooter on the perimeter, our guys were going to be there - we weren't helping out at all. When we went man, we had to account for (Garland and Henkel), and the other guys … had to be sure to be able to help. So we always accounted at least two guys for their two guys, and to Sentinel's credit, their other kids stepped up and made some huge shots down the stretch."

Sentinel guard Kendal Maier drained 16 points, and 6-foot-6 post Connor Griffith had 11 points and five boards.

The Spartans led by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, but Cutler and Smithwick-Hann combined for 17 points in the fourth quarter as Glacier pulled within eight, 60-52, on Smithwick-Hann's bucket with 3:08 remaining. Sentinel maintained a safe gap by sinking 19 of 24 (79.2 percent) free throws.

Sentinel coach Craig Matosich said the Spartans didn't plan to withstand an early Glacier surge, but they knew they might have to.

"To me, Glacier is a very, very scary team because they score it so well," Matosich said. "Cutler can shoot it and Smithwick-Hann can shoot it, but they've got some guys that can just score without the shooting.

"On a nightly basis, you never know. I think they're gonna step up and get a win or two coming down the home stretch in the conference."

Ben Sansaver sparked Glacier with five points off the bench, while Logan Quay notched four points, two rebounds and a block. Connor Fuller tallied four assists, four rebounds, two steals and a point.

"We were confident coming in that we could play with them," Cutler said. "We think we can play with anyone in this league, so we each come out and play hard every time.

"We try to play our best every game. If it comes against Sentinel or Big Sky, it doesn't really matter. We just come out and play our hardest every single time."

According to Cutler, Glacier's rematch with Sentinel bore little resemblance to the teams' first meeting.

"We were much improved," he said. "We (defended) Garland way better than last time. We really got him frustrated at the beginning. Our defense was just way better, bottom line."

Harkins said Sentinel's imposing size and strength was still a major factor, but the Wolfpack did a better job of staying aggressive against the veteran Spartans, who started four seniors and brought four more off the bench.

"Everyone says, 'You're so young, you're so young,'" Harkins said. "Well this is the end of our season, and that's not gonna work anymore. We've got to start playing like we're a seasoned team, and I think the kids are responding real well to that."

Sentinel 15 16 21 17 - 69

Glacier 16 10 11 18 - 55

SENTINEL (14-2, 7-1) - Taylor King 0 1-2 1, Sean Davis 0 0-2 0, Kendal Maier 4 7-7 16, Logan Jacobson 1 0-0 2, Dan Thisselle 1 2-2 4, Ben Roberts 2 0-1 6, Mark Henkel 5 6-6 19, Andy Garland 4 2-3 10, Connor Griffith 5 1-1 11. Totals 22 19-24 69.

GLACIER (3-13, 0-8) - Connor Fuller 0-2 1-2 1, Shay Smithwick-Hann 6-15 3-3 16, Logan Quay 2-3 0-0 4, Mike Rasmussen 1-1 0-0 2, Ben Cutler 11-21 2-7 27, Ben Sansaver 2-8 1-2 5, Josh Doty 0-2 0-0 0, Cody Grosswiler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 7-14 55.

3-point goals - Sen. 6 (Henkel 3, Roberts 2, Maier), Gla. 4-13 (Cutler 3-6, Smithwick-Hann 1-6, Fuller 0-1). Rebounds - Sen. 46 (Garland 7, Henkel 6, Maier 5, Griffith 5, Thisselle 3, King 2, Jacobson 2, Roberts 2, Ben DeMarios 2, Davis, team 11), Gla. 29 (Smithwick-Hann 8, Fuller 4, Cutler 4, Quay 2, Rasmussen, Sansaver, team 9). Blocks - Sen. 3 (Jacobson, Garland, Griffith), Gla. 2 (Smithwick-Hann, Quay). Assists - Sen. 4 (Maier, Jacobson, Roberts, Griffith), Gla. 9 (Fuller 4, Smithwick-Hann 3, Cutler, Sansaver). Steals - Sen. 4 (Jacobson 2, Roberts 2), Gla. 6 (Fuller 2, Doty, Smithwick-Hann, Rasmussen, Cutler). Turnovers - Sen. 12, Gla. 12. Team fouls - Sen. 14, Gla. 22. Fouled out - none.