Senior tops Glacier in loser-out action
BILLINGS — It wasn’t that the Glacier boys didn’t have the spirit, they just didn’t have the shots fall when they needed them.
The Wolfpack went 0-for-8 from the floor in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as Billings Senior turned a one-point lead into 10 and sent Glacier packing with a 61-50 loser-out victory at the Class AA boys state basketball tournament at MetraPark on Friday afternoon.
It was Glacier’s second straight loss at the hands of a Billings school. On Thursday night, the Wolfpack lost to West 53-50 in a thriller.
After a likely night of tosses and turns for both teams, the Pack (14-9 overall) traded leads with the Broncs (18-5) for the first three quarters, staying within one point heading into the final eight minutes. On Thursday, Senior let an 8-point lead slip away in the final minutes and eventually lost to Helena Capital in overtime.
Danny Desin had 19 points, seven coming in the fourth, and Kerry Heard added 17 as the Broncs made sure to seal the win this time.
Another fourth-quarter nightmare came to life for Glacier, this time in the form of cold shooting. Bryan Chery, who finished with a game-high 20 points, scored Glacier’s first field goal of the quarter with just over two minutes left. It was a 3-pointer, followed by another shortly after — vintage Glacier — but it just wasn’t enough.
“The kids again played hard, and that’s what I told them in there. Never once this year have I ever questioned their effort,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “But we didn’t have shots drop.”
Senior Shay Smithwick-Hann finished his stellar career with 13 points and 11 rebounds and fellow senior Grahm Schmaltz, who climbed up the ranks and became the team’s third-leading scorer in his only varsity season, had 10 points.
“Like I told my guys,” Harkins said, “Especially these seniors, they have helped establish where we want to go. They’ve been the foundation of a program that we’re pretty proud of right now and we want to keep building. So I have to thank my seniors, all seven of them (Smithwick-Hann, Schmaltz, Logan Quay, Freddie Blodnick, Connor Fuller, Wiley Fusaro, Mario Venturini). They did a great job, and I’m proud of them. They’re great kids.”
Glacier 5 16 18 11 — 50
Billings Senior 8 10 22 21 — 61
Glacier (14-9) — Bryan Chery 7-15 2-3 20, Grahm Schmaltz 3-13 2-2 10, Marshall Boyland 0-0 0-0 0, Freddie Blogdnick 0-2 0-0 0, Colter Hanson 1-5 0-1 2, Shay Smithwick-Hann 3-8 5-7 13, Logan Quay 0-1 1-4 1, Wiley Fusaro 0-0 0-0 0, Mario Venturini 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Leininger 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Edwards 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 16-45 10-17 50. 3-pointers: 8-26 (Chery 4-8, Schmaltz 2-10, Blodnick 0-2, Hanson 0-1, Smithwick-Hann 2-5). Rebounds: 34 (Smithwick-Hann 11). Assists: 7 (Smithwick-Hann 4). Turnovers: 14. Blocks: 2 (Schmaltz, Smithwick-Hann). Steals: 5 (Hanson 3). Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Hanson.
Billings Senior (18-5) — Kerry Heard 6-12 4-6 17, Scotty Owens 2-3 0-2 4, Chad Newell 2-2 2-4 6, Jeff Aders 0-0 0-0 0, Danny Desin 5-10 6-8 19, Chase Boyd 0-0 0-0 0, Dillon Ness 3-11 2-2 10, Blair Monson 1-3 0-0 3, Johnny Nielsen 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 20-43 14-24 61. 3-pointers: 7-20 (Heard 1-4, Desin 3-5, Ness 2-8, Monson 1-3). Rebounds: 28 (Desin 6). Assists: 14 (Owens 5, Desin 5). Turnovers: 8. Blocks: 0. Steals: 6 (Newell 2, Monson 2). Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.