Boys basketball: Wolfpack pummels Bulldogs

The Glacier boys basketball team showed a glimpse of how it dangerous it could be this season, working the fast break for 65 points and a 36-point nonconference victory over Whitefish at home on Tuesday night, winning 65-29.

“We got out and went pretty well,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “We got some tempo off our defense and also got some just running out off of rebounds.”

With a smaller lineup, the Wolfpack (2-0) looked to work on its speed game, a look it will use to take advantage of some tough defenses in conference.

“That’s what we wanted to do, just get out and go with this group. We’re pretty small, but we’re pretty fast,” Harkins said.

The Wolfpack scored in bunches, going on runs of 9-2, 12-0 and 6-0 all in the first half to take a 40-15 lead into the break.

Whitefish (1-2) struggled to hit its shots, shooting just 28 percent from the field in the game along with just 1-9 from 3-point range. Glacier held the Bulldogs to just three points in the third quarter, building a 25-point lead entering the final eight minutes.

“I thought the kids played some pretty good defense,” Harkins said. “We changed up our defense a little, went to the zone. I thought they flew around pretty well.”

Cooper Olson scored seven points for Whitefish and Art Doorn had five points and a team-high six rebounds. Keaton Nicholson led the Bulldogs with nine points, all but a free throw coming from within two feet, including a few putbacks off offensive rebounds.

“I wasn’t really happy with our defensive rebounding in the first half,” Harkins said. “I thought we were tipping a lot of balls instead of going and getting them with two hands.”

Matt Peters led Glacier with 13 points, one of nine Wolfpack players to score.

“Matt’s a great threat for us in transition,” Harkins said. “He gets out on that wing and can really go. He did a great job tonight getting out and leading the break for us.”

Logan Iverson and Evan Epperly each had nine points. Reid Siderius had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.

Playing without 7-foot center Ryan Edwards for the second straight game, the Wolfpack was much smaller in its half-court sets, playing 6-2 senior wing Logan Iverson in the post for stretches to get some height down low. The Pack looks to get Edwards back from an ankle injury in the next few weeks.

“This is a great, silver lining,” Harkins said. “Ryan got hurt, but it allows us to work this set when Ryan’s not in the game. Because he’s not going to play 32 minutes a game.”

Glacier is back on the court this weekend when it hosts Great Falls High on Saturday.

Whitefish plays at Bigfork on Dec. 21.

Whitefish 6 9 3 11 — 29

Glacier 17 23 13 12 — 65

WHITEFISH — EJ Havens 0-3 0-0 0, Logan Harwood 1-3 0-0 2, Jace Kalbfleisch 2-6 2-3 6, Art Doorn 2-5 1-4 5, Cooper Olson 2-9 2-2 7, Keaton Nicholson 4-9 1-2 9, Hugh Ramlow 0-2 0-0 0, Brandon Maasen 0-1 0-0 0, Jake May 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 11-39 6-11 29.

GLACIER — Kyle Griffith 3-4 0-0 7, Evan Epperly 4-5 0-1 9, Bryan Michaels 2-4 0-0 5, Logan Iverson 4-10 1-2 9, Matt Peters 6-8 1-1 13, Charlie Obermiller 0-2 0-0 0, Reid Siderius 4-5 0-1 8, Tanner Olsen 1-2 1-2 3, Kalen Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Nate Brown 4-7 0-1 8, James Cutler 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 29-50 3-8 65.

3-pointers — Whitefish 1-9 (Cooper Olson), Glacier 4-7 (Griffith, Epperly, Michaels, Cutler); Rebounds — Whitefish 22 (Doorn 6), Glacier 31 (Michaels, Siderius 7); Assists — Whitefish 4 (Havens 3), Glacier 14 (Griffith, Epperly 4); Blocks — Whitefish 1 (Nicholson), Glacier 2 (Michaels, Reed); Steals — Whitefish 5 (Havens 2, Olson 2), Glacier 12 (Griffith, Michaels, Siderius, Brown 2); Turnovers — Whitefish 18, Glacier 10; Fouls — Whitefish 13, Glacier 13; Technical fouls — none; Fouled out — none.