Late comeback saves 'Pack

It took awhile.

Coming off Friday’s emotional overtime victory over Columbia Falls, the Glacier Wolfpack could be forgiven for its two-point first quarter effort against the visiting Libby Loggers on Saturday.

The Loggers (5-6, 2-1), however, showed up right on time. And for three quarters, they ran the show at Glacier High School.

Libby led 23-16 at half and 39-38 after three quarters.

But the Wolfpack (7-3) came alive with a 27-point fourth quarter and claimed a 65-41 nonconference basketball victory.

“It was our advantage the game was so intense last night — it really was,” said Libby coach Wally Winslow.

“It’s difficult for kids to play back-to-back games. This was an even shorter time period than normal because of the early start time (4 p.m.). They expended a lot of energy, the Glacier kids, last night — and a lot of emotion. So they were a little flat,” Winslow said.

“We have to play hard against everybody that we play, especially a team like Glacier because they’re very athletic, they’re well-coached, they transition, all those kinds of things, so you better be ready,” Winslow said.

“We were a little tired ... coaches and everybody,” admitted Glacier coach Mark Harkins.

“Coming off last nights’ emotional game, we knew the potential could be there we’d have a slow start and we did,” he said.

“But credit to (the Loggers). They came out and kind of punched us in the mouth and were really getting after it. I was impressed with how they came down here and challenged us,” Harkins said.

“We didn’t want (the slow start) to happen. Give Libby a lot of credit, (the Loggers) played hard the whole game,” said Glacier’s Connor Fuller.

“We made a couple changes, started running the ball more up and down the court, put pressure defense on them and finally started hitting our shots,” Fuller said.

The Loggers did just about everything right in the first half — they outrebounded Glacier, shot 47 percent and hounded the Wolfpack on defense.

Colt Cannon scored six points in each of the first two quarters for Libby.

“We didn’t quit. We struggled offensively, but I thought our defense was still good in the first half and that’s what we focused on at halftime,” Harkins said.

He said he told the Wolfpack “‘We’re not making shots, that’s OK. That’s going to happen sometimes. You can always count on your defense.’”

In the other locker room, the Loggers were feeling the anxiety of having the lead.

“They weren’t sure how to approach the second half, Winslow said.

“We’re up seven, played a pretty good half. But the kids were more worried about hanging on then putting the pedal to the metal and seeing what we could do,” he said.

“That’s a mind-set. It’s a learning experience.”

It showed in the third quarter.

Calm and collected, Glacier worked itself back into the game.

It took its first lead at the 1:40 mark of the third on Bryan Chery’s 3-pointer. The teams exchanged 3-point baskets over the next 100 seconds.

The quarter ended with Cannon fouled on his 3-point try. Cannon made two of three free throws to put the Loggers up 39-38.

“For three quarters, it was our best game of the year. We defended pretty well, ran some pretty good sets, knocked down shots,” Winslow said.

But that was the end of the road for the Loggers as Glacier’s Shay Smithwick-Hann and Schmaltz took over offensively.

“I think we ran out of gas at the end. Foul trouble got to us a little bit. Our big guy, Alex Cislo, had to come out out,” Winslow said.

Smithwick-Hann opened the fourth with an old-fashioned 3-point play — and proceeded to score seven of his game-high 20 points in the period. He also pulled down 10 rebounds, blocked a shot and had three steals.

Schmaltz picked up his play as well — 10 of his 19 points were in the fourth.

Leaders for Libby were Cannon with 16 points and five rebounds and Cislo with six rebounds.

Libby     12     11     16     2     —     41

Glacier     2     14     22     27     —     65

Libby — Cree Maloney 2 0-0 5, Kelly May 3 0-0 7, Garrett Craig 0 1-2 1, Colt Cannon 6 4-6 16, Nate Broden 2 2-2 6, Alex Cislo 3 0-1 6. Totals 16 7-11 41.

Glacier — Bryan Chery 2 0-0 5, Grahm Schmaltz 7 2-2 19, Freddie Blodnick 1 0-0 3, Shay Smithwick-Hann 9 2-3 20, Logan Quay 2 0-1 4, Connor Fuller 4 2-2 11, Brandon Doty 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 6-8 65.

3-point goals: Libby 2 (Maloney, May), Glacier 7 (Fuller 1, Chery 1, Blodnick 1, Doty 1, Schmaltz 3). Total fouls: Libby 14, Glacier 13. Fouled out: None.