Wolfpack rally falls short
The Wolfpack dug deep inside, but it had already dug too deep of a hole.
The Glacier High School boys' basketball team used an inspired fourth-quarter rally to flirt with an improbable comeback Thursday night before Missoula Big Sky pulled away for a 73-62 Western AA victory.
Trailing 60-42 with less than six minutes in to play, the Wolfpack went on a 14-1 tear, pulling within five points with 2:49 remaining. Glacier got within five points again with 1:47 to go, but Big Sky found its free-throw stroke down the stretch to stymie the Wolfpack's rally.
Glacier dropped to 0-2 in Western AA play and 2-6 overall, while Big Sky improved to 1-1 in conference and 3-4 overall.
Senior guard Justin Montelius led Big Sky with 21 points. He went 6-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final frame, sinking five of his last six attempts. Six-foot-2 senior Beau Donaldson bulled his way to 17 points, most of which came from point-blank range.
"We weren't getting in front of the post very well," Glacier sophomore Shay Smithwick-Hann said. "We weren't stopping their scoring inside. I think in the fourth quarter we played better defense on them inside and outside, and we were a whole different team in the fourth quarter."
A 6-foot-4 forward, Smithwick-Hann was spectacular in his own right, notching a double-double with 19 points and 19 rebounds. Junior guard Ben Cutler led Glacier with 22 points and four steals.
The Wolfpack's late surge was necessitated by a lackluster third quarter and the Eagles' 11-2 burst to end the second stanza, which sent them into halftime with a 38-29 advantage.
"We had some breakdowns in the third quarter and in the first half," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. "We got down by nine at half, which was too bad because we were right in there for most of the second quarter.
"We missed some shots tonight that we generally don't miss, and I credit that to Big Sky's defense. They were very, very physical. Even when they didn't hit us, I think we were missing shots because we were looking to see if we were going to get any contact."
Glacier shot 38.2 percent on the night, including 15.4 percent from beyond the arc. Big Sky hit 45.2 percent of its shots, including 51.5 percent in the first half.
Big Sky got 10 points from forward Spencer Powell, and guards Mike Devlin and Mike LaValley combined for 17.
Though not particularly tall, the Eagles' muscle in the paint - led by all-state football fullback Donaldson - proved pivotal. Big Sky collected offensive boards on 22 of its 34 missed field goals.
"They're the most physical team we've played this whole year," Smithwick-Hann said. "They have a bunch of big bodies inside, and they kind of disrupted our inside game. We missed a lot of short (shots). I think that's what really hurt us."
Connor Fuller tossed in nine points for Glacier, followed by Josh Doty with eight. Mike Rasmussen rounded out the scoring with two buckets off the bench, including one in the fourth quarter that pulled the Wolfpack within seven points.
The Wolfpack has an entire week to rest and regroup before hosting Class A powerhouse Columbia Falls on Jan. 18. Despite Thursday's loss, Glacier has plenty of positives to draw from during upcoming practices thanks to its stirring rally.
"There's no question that I'm pleased with their response," Harkins said. "Had we played the rest of our game like we did in the third quarter, I would have had a real bad taste in my mouth all weekend long.
"I can live with the effort that they put forth in the fourth quarter. In fact, I'm very proud of it. They came out and competed, and that's what we're about right now."
Big Sky 18 20 21 14 - 73
Glacier 14 15 13 20 - 62
BIG SKY (3-4, 1-1) - Mike Devlin 4 0-3 8, Spencer Powell 3 4-8 10, Mike LaValley 4 0-2 9, Justin Montelius 7 6-10 21, Heath Eustance 0 3-4 3, Brooks Nuanez 1 0-0 3, Beau Donaldson 8 1-1 17, Evan Klaudt 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 14-28 73.
GLACIER (2-6, 0-2) - Josh Doty 4-5 0-0 8, Connor Fuller 4-6 1-2 9, Shay Smithwick-Hann 7-26 4-7 19, Mike Rasmussen 2-3 0-0 4, Ben Cutler 9-23 3-5 22, Cody Grosswiler 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Sansaver 0-3 0-0 0, Bryan Chery 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 8-14 62.
3-point goals - BS 3 (LaValley, Montelius, Nuanez), Gla. 2 (Smithwick-Hann, Cutler). Rebounds - BS 46 (Powell 9, LaValley 5, Montelius 5, Klaudt 5, Donaldson 4, Eustance 3), Gla. 44 (Smithwick-Hann 19, Fuller 3, Cutler 3, Rasmussen 2, Doty, Grosswiler, Sansaver, Chery). Steals - BS 8 (Montelius 4, Devlin, Powell), Gla. 10 (Cutler 4, Doty 2, Sansaver 2, George Werk, Smithwick-Hann). Turnovers - BS 10, Gla. 11. Team fouls - BS 15, Gla. 24. Fouled out - Doty.