Glacier ends 5-game losing skid

Still struggling to find that offensive touch, the Glacier Wolfpack managed just enough to end a dire losing streak.

Not a game too soon, either.

In the final nonconference boys basketball matchup of the season, the Glacier boys put up 29 points in the second half and snapped a five-game losing streak, holding off Class A Libby 42-30 at home on Friday night. It was the Wolfpack's first win since Dec. 17 against Great Falls.

"I told the guys, after losing five straight, it's nice to get that monkey off our back as we head into conference," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

The Wolfpack improved to 4-6 overall. The team now enters the heart of Western AA play with the first of 11 remaining conference games next Friday at home against Helena.

"We're struggling to make shots right now. You tell them to be loose and score the next shot but they're tight," Harkins said. "They know they're struggling to make shots, and so we just need to come out one of these games and just hit some shots early and go. We've got to keep going, we've got to keep shooting. We're getting good looks, I think, and we're going to break through. We're going to break that ice."

Coming off a sluggish shooting performance in a loss to Columbia Falls on Thursday, the Wolfpack struggled yet again on Friday, scoring only three points in the first quarter and taking intermission down 17-13. But Libby (6-5) wasn't much more fresh, having won a double-overtime game over Bigfork that night.

"Both teams played really tough games last night and I thought both teams were flat the first half," Harkins said. "We came in and challenged our guys at halftime to play with emotion and play with some heart and compete because we knew they could do that. And they did."

The turning point came in the opening minute of the third quarter. With the Wolfpack playing timid, senior forward Colter Hanson powered into the key, muscled up a shot and drew the foul. As plain as that sounds, it was a spark. After Hanson made both free throws, Glacier upped the tempo and regained a rhythm for the first time all night. On a 15-8 run, the Wolfpack took its first lead of the game with 2:57 left in the third when freshman guard Evan Epperly drove through the lane, similar to Hanson, and made the basket. After that, Glacier trailed only once more momentarily.

"We hadn't been penetrating all night. We had been very tentative and so that kind of got us going a little bit," Harkins said of Hanson's opening drive to the basket.

"Glacier changed stuff at half and got a better rhythm and we didn't respond real well," Libby coach Wally Winslow said. "They did a nice job at the start of the second half of attacking. You could see that right away. Even when we were in our zone they were still coming right at us and that was a good change by coach Harkins. It changed the tempo of the whole game."

Kyle Griffith had a game-high nine points and five steals and brother Trey had six points as did Epperly for Glacier. Hanson finished with four points and five rebounds. Jacob Leininger had four points and five rebounds and Ryan Edwards added three points and five rebounds.

Alex Cislo paced Libby with seven points, Kelly May had six and James Hare added five. The Loggers play at Eureka on Tuesday.

Libby 6 11 8 5 - 30

Glacier 3 10 12 17 - 42

LIBBY - Reese Jensen 0 1-2 1, Cree Maloney 1 2-2 4, Kelly May 1 4-4 6, Garrett Craig 1 0-0 3, Dan Webster 1 2-4 4, Sawyer Zimmerman 0 0-2 0, Alex Cislo 3 1-3 7, James Hare 2 1-2 5. Totals 9 11-19 30.

GLACIER - Bryan Chery 1 0-0 3, Trey Griffith 2 2-3 6, Kyle Griffith 4 0-0 9, Evan Epperly 3 0-0 6, Andy Boyer 1 0-0 3, Jacob Leininger 1 2-2 4, Sean Peters 1 0-0 2, Brandon Doty 0 2-2 2, Ryan Edwards 1 1-2 3, Colter Hanson 1 2-2 4. Totals 15 9-11 42.

3-pointers - Libby 1 (Craig), Glacier 3 (Chery, Boyer, K. Griffith); Rebounds - Libby 30 (Cislo 7, May 6, Hare 5), Glacier 35 (Hanson 5, Leininger 5, Edwards 5, Epperly 3); Turnovers - Libby 29, Glacier 21; Steals - Libby 7 (Maloney 2, May 2), Glacier 14 (K. Griffith 5, Chery 2, Doty 2); Team fouls - Libby 15, Glacier 16; Fouled out - None.

Girls

Glacier 51, Libby 35

Baylee Quay scored 11 points, Ashlee Waggener had 10 and the Glacier girls won for the second time in as many nights.

"For them to play the way they did last night and to come back and still get a good solid win tonight, I can't ask for anything more," Glacier coach Kris Salonen said.

Glacier, fresh off a win against Columbia Falls on Thursday, took care of business Friday with double-digit scoring in every quarter. Cassidy Hashley and Nicole Heavirland each scored seven points and Paige Latimer added six as the Wolfpack improved to 6-4 overall.

Jaime Gilden scored a game-high 20 points for Libby.

Libby 3 12 11 9 - 35

Glacier 14 15 10 12 - 51

LIBBY - Sheena Good 2, Alysha Martin 3, Jaime Gilden 20, Logan Best 2, Taylor Barton 2, Ashley Shaw 4, Kim Tangen 2.

GLACIER - Nicole Heavirland 7, Rachel Chery 2, Paige Latimer 6, Cami Mathison 2, Cassidy Hashley 7, Baylee Quay 11, Patty Hughes 5, Ashlee Waggener 10, Tiffany Marks 1.