Glacier boys fall behind early, lose to Helena High
The Daily Inter Lake
HELENA - Helena High defeated Glacier 58-34 in a Western AA boys' basketball playoff game Thursday evening.
The Bengals jumped out to a 20-8 lead in the opening quarter and led 32-13 at the half.
The victory sends Helena High (11-10) to the Class AA state tournament, which begins next Thursday in Great Falls.
Helena High won all three meetings with Glacier this season.
"The first part of the first quarter was excellent," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.
"Then they got on a little roll and we dug ourselves into a hole. We had to play differently."
Helena led by 19 points at the half.
Glacier finished the season 3-18.
Ben Cutler led the Wolfpack with 16 points.
Grant Fink was one of three Helena players in double digits. He tallied 19 points.
"Everywhere we went, people would say it must have been a long season," Harkins said.
"But I told the kids in the locker room it was anything but a long season. The kids came with such great attitudes to every practice, they competed every game. I'm sad it's over."
In an Eastern AA playoff game Thursday in Butte, Billings Skyview downed Butte 49-47 in triple overtime.
Glacier 8 5 10 11 - 34
Helena 20 12 19 7 - 58
GLACIER (3-18) - Connor Fuller 0-2 0-0 0, Shay Smithwick-Hann 3-8 2-4 9, Kramer Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Rasmussen 0-3 1-1 1, Ben Cutler 7-15 1-2 16, Ben Sansaver 0-2 0-0 0, Cody Grosswiler 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Doty 1-4 0-0 2, Logan Quay 1-2 0-0 2, Bryan Chery 0-1 2-2 2, George Werk 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 13-38 6-10 34.
HELENA (11-10) - Nick Trapp 0-1 1-2 1, Reil Cornelius 6-9 0-0 12, Adam Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Spencer Chamberlain 2-4 0-0 6, Grant Fink 8-14 2-3 19, Tyler Hulse 0-0 1-2 1, Steven Foster 2-3 8-15 12, Brian Evans 2-6 0-0 5, Josh Stuberg 0-0 0-0 0, Garrett Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Bushnell 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 21-41 12-22 58.
3-pointers - GHS 2-10 (Smithwick-Hann, Cutler), HHS 4-8 (Chamberlain 2, Fink, Evans); Rebounds - GHS 19 (Smithwick-Hann 5), HHS 36 (Fink 8, Cornelius 3, Johnson 3, Stuberg 3, Hulse 3); Assists - GHS 5 (Cutler 2), HHS 20 (Cornelius 5, Stuberg 5); Turnovers - GHS 11, HHS 10; Total fouls - GHS 17, HHS 16; Fouled out - none.
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Skyview 11 8 3 12 6 5 4 - 49
Butte High 7 11 8 8 6 5 2 - 47
BILLINGS SKYVIEW (10-11) - Rylan Shaw 3-9 0-0 7, Chris Thrower 2-2 2-6 6, Devin Scott 5-9 3-4 2 13, Jordan Clark 1-2 1-1 3, Steve Davis 5-6 1-3 11, Cole Cavan 2-6 4-4 8, Danny Little 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 18-35 12-20 49.
BUTTE HIGH (14-7) - Mike Hawbaker 2-11 5-7 10, Jake Trudnowski 2-6 1-4 5, Cole Conway 8-13 4-6 21, Mitch Hawbaker 1-2 0-0 2, Brandon Boltz 4-9 1-8 9, John Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Keaton Lappin 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Ueland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 11-25 47.
3-point goals - Skyview 1-4 (Shaw 1-4), Butte High 2-15 (Mike Hawbaker 1-6, Trudnowski 0-4, Conway 1-4, Mitch Hawbaker 0-1). Fouled out - Davis, Boltz. Total fouls - Skyview 19, Butte High 18. Technicals - none. Rebounds - Skyview 27 (Davis 8), Butte High 28 (Boltz 8). Blocks - Skyview 0, Butte High 2 (Conway 2). Assists - Skyview 4 (Davis 2), Butte High 10 (Boltz 4, Mike Hawbaker 4). Steals - Skyview 9 (Clark 2, Shaw 2, Davis 2, Cavan 2), Butte High 11 (Conway 4, Mike Hawbaker 3). Turnovers - Skyview 18, Butte High 19.