Glacier wins OT thriller

"Wow," Glacier head coach Mark Harkins said. "That's all I can say is wow."

Inside the filled bandbox gymnasium at Flathead High on Friday night, another great chapter was added to the Flathead-Glacier boys basketball rivalry.

The Wolfpack overcame an 18-point deficit in the first half and defeated the Braves 77-74 in overtime in a spirited shootout that had moments of fever-pitch adulation for both teams. The victory was Glacier's fifth-straight and snapped Flathead's five-game win streak.

"I'm proud of my kids but I'm proud of the Flathead kids, too. All the kids just battled tonight," Harkins said. "That was a great basketball game. It's turning into that kind of deal every time we play."

Two of the last three contests between these crosstown rivals have now gone into overtime. Flathead swept last year, winning 71-65 in OT on Feb. 5, and then 48-45 on Feb. 26.

Friday night was certainly another one to remember.

"One of the best games I've ever been associated with," Flathead head coach Fred Febach said. "You got to give Glacier credit. We were hot early on but they stayed the course and they played well."

Glacier took its first lead since the opening basket early in the fourth quarter and then broke a 60-60 tie with 1:49 left after supersized sophomore Ryan Edwards, standing 6-foot-10, scored on a second-effort shot down low. Senior teammate Bryan Chery followed with a baseline jump shot and back-to-back free throws and the 'Pack jumped ahead 66-60 with 31 seconds left.

But wait, it wasn't over yet.

Flathead senior point guard Joe Pistorese, who had been the Braves' stalwart leader all night with acrobatics and sharp-shooting, dribbled across half court and threw up a Hail Mary shot with 25 seconds left.

Swish. 66-63.

Moments later, following an errant Glacier free throw, Flathead missed two more potential game-tying shots,. But senior Mike VanArendonk grabbed a rebound with time counting down, dribbled out beyond the arc and passed to senior teammate Ian Gillespie.

Gillespie was ready. He let go the shot, and with the rest of the gymnasium he watched as it swished in at the buzzer.

The sound inside the gym became deafening.

"When that last one went through to tie it up I've never heard a gym explode like that," Febach said. "It just erupted."

But in overtime, the new life for Flathead was short lived. The Wolfpack kept its composure and knocked down seven of its 11 free throws. With Glacier leading 76-74 and 13 seconds to go, Flathead had another chance at tying the game. But senior Trey Griffith swooped in and stole away the ball and the win, following a free throw and a final missed Hail Mary shot from Flathead.

"It feels good. It feels good to get our fourth conference win," Griffith, who finished with six points, five rebounds and five steals, said. "We're on the rise."

"That was stressful," Chery, who had 18 points and four steals, said. "But we made our free throws today."

Edwards had a team-high 23 points and 14 rebounds for Glacier (8-6 overall, 4-2 in Western AA).

Pistorese finished with a game-high 28 points, making six 3-pointers, and had seven rebounds. Junior George Sherwood had 17 points and nine rebounds, VanArendonk chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds and Gillespie finished with eight points for FHS (7-5, 3-3).

Flathead's biggest lead came midway through the second quarter when the hot-shooting Braves jumped ahead 40-22. By halftime Glacier had cut the lead to 44-33, but there was still reason to panic on the Wolfpack side.

"We were worried," Harkins said. "They were on fire. We thought we were in decent position but they were just hitting shots. They shot 7 for 12 behind the arc in the first half. So yeah, we were definitely worried that it was going to snowball on us because that's how shooting is and momentum ... At halftime we talked about it, you've been down by 11 before. You have to come out and battle and scrape and claw every possession."

The Wolfpack did just that. Glacier's defense regained its pestering quickness and Flathead fell off track, scoring only seven points in the third. Glacier finished the game with 17 steals.

"They just brought pressure all the way up and down the floor and that's basically what they do very well," Febach said. "They got great quickness in those three kids up front and that forced us out of any kind of rhythm offensively."

Glacier's depth came through, too. With starters Kyle Griffith, Chery and Edwards falling into foul trouble early, the Wolfpack bench saw plenty of minutes.

Freshman guard Evan Epperly scored five of his eight points in overtime, Jacob Leininger had three points and Sean Peters had four.

Now in the fourth year of the raucous two-part annual engagement, the Glacier-Flathead series is tied at three games apiece.

NOTES: At halftime, four former Flathead standouts were inducted into the Legends Wall of Fame - Zoe Nelson, Lexie Miller-Beck, Tom Little and Sam McCullum.

Glacier 17 16 15 18 11 - 77

Flathead 23 21 7 15 8 - 74

GLACIER - Bryan Chery 5 6-8 18, Kyle Griffith 2 0-3 4, Trey Griffith 2 1-3 6, Colton Harkins 0 2-2 2, Evan Epperly 3 1-1 8, Ryan Edwards 9 5-6 23, Jacob Leininger 1 1-2 3, Colter Hanson 2 5-8 9, Sean Peters 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 21-26 77.

FLATHEAD - Mike VanArendonk 2 7-11 11, Matt McLean 2 0-0 6, Ian Gillespie 3 0-0 8, Joe Pistorese 11 0-0 28, George Sherwood 2 13-16 17, Shea Schroeder 0 0-3 0, Scotty Keller 2 0-0 4. Totals 22 20-30 74.

3-pointers - Glacier 4 (Chery 2, T. Griffith, Epperly), Flathead 10 (Pistorese 6, Gillespie 2, McLean 2), Rebounds - Glacier 44 (Edwards 14, Leininger 5, Hanson 5, K. Griffith 5, T. Griffith 5, Epperly 3, Peters 2), Flathead 38 (Sherwood 9, Pistorese 7, VanArendonk 7, Schroeder 5, Gillespie 4, Keller 2), Steals - Glacier 17 (T. Griffith 5, Chery 4, Hanson 2), Flathead 5 (VanArendonk 2), Turnovers - Glacier 13, Flathead 21; Fouls - Glacier 23, Flathead 23; Fouled out - Edwards, Hanson, K. Griffith.