Bruins sink free throws, drop Wolfpack
The Helena Capital Bruins did what the Glacier Wolfpack just couldn’t do — make the free throws.
The fifth-ranked Bruins shot 8-for-11 from the line in the final two minutes and climbed into sole possession of second place in Western AA with a 55-49 victory at Glacier High on Saturday afternoon.
Capital finished 13-for-19 from the line while Glacier shot just 1-for-9 in the game.
The Bruins hiked their record to 7-3 in conference and 11-7 overall and moved one game behind Missoula Sentinel (8-2, 11-7) in the standings. Both teams meet in Missoula next Thursday for what could be the conference title game.
Glacier, still in position to host a playoff game, dropped into third place at 6-4 and 12-6 with two games remaining — at home against Missoula Hellgate next Tuesday on senior night and a rematch at Flathead next Friday.
“This is now playoff basketball,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “All the credit in the world to Capital, they are a good basketball team. For us to beat teams like that we have to play well. It’s not that we did poorly today, we just weren’t on. We were a little bit out of sync.”
The last time Capital and Glacier met, the Pack won in overtime, 51-49 on Jan. 29.
In here-we-go-again fashion on Saturday, Glacier rallied from eight points down to tie the game with 1:52 left after senior Shay Smithwick-Hann sank a deep 3-pointer that peaked the team’s momentum.
But that was the end of it.
Capital replied with one free throw after another and built a five-point lead with just under a minute left that forced Glacier to foul.
“We held on. Glacier, they play hard, they really come at you and they’re relentless on the attack,” Capital coach Guy Almquist said. “We knew they would make a run and once they tied it, it was key for us to come down and execute and get the ball inside and attack the basket. We were able to do that.”
Capital had three players score in double figures, led by Josh Dirks, who went 4-for-6 with free throws in crunch time and had a game-high 19 points. Glacier held top-scorer Matt Miller, who averages 16.2 points per game, to only seven.
Smithwick-Hann and Connor Fuller finished with 11 points and six rebounds apiece and Grahm Schmaltz and Trey Griffith each added nine points for Glacier. Colter Hanson had four points and six rebounds.
“The kids battled. I’m not mad or disappointed in the effort, we just didn’t play well enough to beat a good team today,” Harkins said. “If you’re going to get into the playoffs, if you want to be successful, you have to be able to do those little things. Winning rebounds and making free throws are two of them that we didn’t do today.”
Senior Freddie Blodnick provided the spark for the Wolfpack in the fourth when he made a 3-pointer that cut the Bruins’ lead to six with six minutes left. Capital responded with a quick basket, but Fuller followed up with five-straight points before Smithwick-Hann hit his lone 3-pointer of the night in a stretch that ended up being the most fluid offensively for Glacier all day.
The Wolfpack trailed by as many as 10 in the game.
Helena Capital 14 17 12 12 — 55
Glacier 11 14 9 15 — 49
CAPITAL — Tommy Peterson 1 0-0 2, Matt Miller 3 1-3 7, AJ Wilson 0 2-2 2, Josh Dirks 7 5-7 19, Slaten Long 4 0-0 12, Trey Spirlin 4 5-7 13, Beau Berg 0 0-0 0, Quinn Chamberlain 0 0-0 0, Chris Morrison 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-19 55.
GLACIER — Grahm Schmaltz 4 0-0 9, Freddie Blodnick 1 0-0 3, Colter Hanson 2 0-2 4, Shay Smithwick-Hann 5 0-3 11, Logan Quay 1 0-0 2, Trey Griffith 3 1-2 9, Connor Fuller 5 0-2 11, Bryan Chery 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 1-9 49.
3-point goals — Capital 4 (Long 4), Glacier 6 (Griffith 2, Schmaltz, Blodnick, Smithwick-Hann, Fuller); Rebounds — Capital 32 (Dirks 8, Spirlin 8), Glacier 25 (Fuller 6, Smithwick-Hann 6, Hanson 6); Turnovers — Capital 15, Glacier 10; Team fouls — Capital 10, Glacier 16; Fouled out — None.