Glacier wins again
The Glacier Wolfpack are rolling into the final month of the regular season with a new nickname - "the front runners."
Ben Cutler scored a game-high 18 points, Shay Smithwick-Hann netted 17 and Josh Doty scored 14 as the Wolfpack held off the Helena High Bengals 69-62 in a Western AA boys basketball game at Glacier High on Saturday.
The Wolfpack led from the start, thanks to Doty's seven first-quarter points, but almost let the win slip away at the end. The Bengals went on an 11-3 run midway through the fourth quarter to cut the lead to one. But two quick Helena turnovers turned into transition lay-ups by Cutler, and after that the Bengals were unable to play the spoiler role a day after the Wolfpack defeated third-ranked Helena Capital.
"It's going to be a great conference down the stretch," Helena coach Willie Schlepp said. "These guys are the front runners right now, but we came up to their gym and really competed for the entire time. They just made some plays down the stretch like they should. They're good players and I give them credit, they did a good job."
The Wolfpack improved to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in conference. Glacier jumps into second place ahead of Missoula Big Sky (6-5, 2-1) with eight regular season games remaining on the schedule in February. The Bengals fall to 4-7 overall and 2-3 in conference and sit in sixth place.
"We've worked for it all season so it feels really nice," said Doty, who also pulled down six rebounds. "We're definitely rolling now, but we'll see how it happens for the rest of the season. We can't overlook anyone."
The Helena defenders pestered Cutler most of the game, but others were quick to step in and make plays for Glacier.
Senior guard Ben Sansaver had nine points and six rebounds, and junior guard Connor Fuller had four points and three assists.
"We're getting a lot of guys contributing, which will be important for us down the stretch," said Glacier coach Mark Harkins.
Helena hit 24-of-36 from the free throw line, while Glacier made 14-of-23.
The Bengals made it a game in the second half after the Wolfpack shooting cooled off.
"We were a little out of sync today, but we did what we had to do to win," Harkins said.
The Wolfpack grabbed 38 rebounds, 21 of those on defense. Smithwick-Hann led the battle with 13. Helena finished with 26 as a team.
"We got after them a little bit on the boards and that helped us a lot," Harkins said.
"I told the guys, congratulations, you've put yourself in a great spot so far in the conference," he added. "But we're not satisfied yet. We still don't think we've put everything together. We've played some good games, we've seen some inconsistency, but I think that the potential is still there to really be something special."
Five of Glacier's final eight games are on the road, which means the team will have to step foot off its beloved home court, where it hasn't lost a game all season. The next match is at home against crosstown Flathead High on Tuesday.
Heading into the final stretch, the Wolfpack will face the established order of Western AA, but it doesn't seem to scare them one bit.
"Can't wait," Doty said.
Helena High 16 15 14 17 - 62
Glacier 21 11 18 19 - 69
HELENA HIGH - Nick Trapp 0 2-2 2, Adam Johnson 4 5-6 14, Justin Teegarden 2 2-2 7, Zach Carpenter 5 6-9 17, Tyler Hulse 5 5-11 15, Dylan Simac 2 2-4 7. Totals 18 22-34 62
GLACIER - Josh Doty 5 2-5 14, Connor Fuller 1 2-2 4, Shay Smithwick-Hann 4 8-10 17, Logan Quay 1 0-0 2, Mike Rasmussen 1 1-3 3, Ben Cutler 9 0-1 18, Cody Grosswiler 1 0-0 2, Ben Sansaver 4 1-2 9. Totals 26 14-23 69.
3-point goals - Helena 4 (Johnson, Teegarden, Carpenter, Simac), Glacier 3 (Doty 2, Smithwick-Hann); Total fouls - Helena 20, Glacier 26. Fouled out - Helena (Hulse, Trapp); Total rebounds - Helena 26, Glacier 38; Turnovers - Helena 21, Glacier 19