Glacier cuts down Loggers
Home, sweet home.
The Glacier boys got back in the win column with a 59-47 win over Libby in nonconference boys basketball at Glacier on Thursday night.
Ben Cutler had 22 points, Shay Smithwick-Hann added 11 points and 11 rebounds and the Wolfpack improved to 4-0 at home after dropping two straight on the road.
"We like being at home," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. "We like our home court. It plays to our strength, we can spread the floor, we can get up and down a little bit. And we have a great crowd."
The revelry of the school band and the cheering of the home crowd helped as the Wolfpack (6-3 overall, 1-1 in conference) jumped to a 9-2 lead after tipoff. Libby (7-3) chipped away at Glacier's lead to get within one to finish the first. But Glacier kept its cool.
"We've lost a couple tight ones so it was nice to play well and get a win against a very quality team," said Harkins, whose team lost in overtime to Missoula Big Sky on Jan. 15 before being thumped in Couer d' Alene two nights later.
Libby's Conner Benson had 16 points and seven rebounds and Alex Cislo finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Loggers had trouble getting into an offensive flow in the second quarter and fell behind 13 points at the midway point.
"We were not aggressive enough on the offensive end," Libby coach Wally Winslow said. "I thought we allowed them to push us out."
Glacier's Josh Doty buried a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and finished with nine points. The Wolfpack took the halftime break with a 30-21 advantage.
It didn't get any prettier for the Loggers after that. The Wolfpack had a supporting cast step in and build a 20-point lead. Six-foot-4 Chad Gassaway came off the bench and grabbed six rebounds and Conner Fuller filled in at the point and drained a 3-pointer and finished with five points and a pair of steals.
"I thought Logan (Quay) and Chad both came in and were very solid playing in the post for us," Harkins said. "That's what we've talked about, when you get on the floor, you make the most of the minutes, and help the team. I was very pleased with everyone tonight."
The Wolfpack defense showed no signs of fatigue in the second half and snuffed out a Libby turnaround.
"Glacier did things to us and we didn't respond," said Winslow, in his 11th year as coach. "We were kind of second-guessing what we were doing instead of just reacting and making plays. So you end up playing on your heels a little bit and your timing is off."
The Wolfpack is currently in third place in Western AA behind Big Sky (2-1) and Helena Capital (2-0). The Loggers came into the game ranked fifth overall in Class A in the first top 10 Associated Press poll of the season. They sit on top in Northwestern Class A but have a remaining schedule littered with road games.
Winslow emphasized this to his team afterward.
"I said we have four of our last five conference games on the road and we need to learn how to play on the road," Winslow said. "We have to learn how to prepare to play on the road. We haven't done that. We played at Columbia Falls but we were bad on the road, we played here and we were bad on the road. It's something we need to fix."
Libby 12 9 10 16 - 47
Glacier 13 17 16 13 - 59
LIBBY - Conner Benson 6 2-2 16, Kelly May 3 3-4 9, Joel Fuller 3 2-5 8, Colton Cannon 0 1-2 1, Alex Cislo 6 1-2 13. Totals 18 9-15 47
GLACIER - Josh Doty 3 1-2 9, Connor Fuller 2 0-0 5, Shay Smithwick-Hann 4 3-5 11, Colter Hanson 2 0-0 4, Kramer Wilson 1 0-1 2, Ben Cutler 9 3-4 22, Cody Grosswiler 1 1-2 3, Ben Sansaver 1 1-2 3. Total 23 9-15 59.
3-point goals - Libby 2 (Benson), Glacier 4 (Doty 2, Fuller, Cutler); Total fouls - Libby 18, Glacier 18; Fouled out - None; Rebounds - Libby 36 (Cislo 9, Benson 7), Glacier 32 (Smithwick-Hann 11); Turnovers - Libby 17, Glacier 15