Glacier downs Great Falls

The Glacier boys slowly spread their lead in beating Great Falls High 57-47 in a Class AA nonconference basketball game Saturday afternoon, earning an early season sweep of the teams from the Electric City.

The Wolfpack (3-0) wasn’t able to change the pace of the game in its favor against Great Falls, instead leaning on its defense to start the break.

“It just seemed we were that close all night from going on a run that we’re used to,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “It’s nice to know that you can be successful when you don’t get those runs ... when you have to grind it out and play a game that was just a little bit slower.”

Glacier finally broke through in the second quarter after holding Great Falls scoreless for a four-minute stretch. The Wolfpack went on a 7-0 run to take the lead, getting the fast break moving for spurts.

“We’d get our runs going at times but our tempo I didn’t think was quite where we wanted it,” Harkins said.

“We got the press going a little bit and that got tempo going a little bit.”

Glacier closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 27-21 lead, but was unable to take advantage of its opportunities to spread the lead at the free-throw line, shooting just 3-11 in the second quarter.

“It was a Saturday afternoon type feel,” Harkins said.

“We didn’t play with the same intensity that we have the last couple of games.”

The Wolfpack slogged through the second half before finally breaking loose late in the fourth.

Logan Iverson keyed the Glacier offense with a pair of tough buckets, ending a pair of runs by the Bison. Iverson also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

“Logan Iverson had a great game rebounding for us,” Harkins said. “Logan’s one guy that you know is going to bring it every game with his intensity.”

Matt Peters and Evan Epperly used their speed to break down the Great Falls defense as the Bison tried to close the scoring gap late.

“Matt Peters I thought played really well,” Harkins said.

“He kinda gave us some sparks, especially offensively getting out in transition. He attacks the rim so hard.”

Peters led the Wolfpack with 13 points and eight assists. Ryan Edwards scored 10 points and had six rebounds in his return from an ankle injury.

“It was a good feeling to get back on the court,” Edwards said.

“It’s still a little tender out there on the floor.”

Jace Anderegg led the Bison (2-2) with 11 points.

Glacier heads to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for a two-game set later this week. The Pack will play Lake City on Friday and Coeur d’Alene on Saturday in the final games before the holiday break.

Great Falls 14 7 10 16 — 47

Glacier 15 12 12 18 — 57

GREAT FALLS — Lukas Vining 2-4 0-0 6, Kolby Sukut 3-8 0-0 7, Dylan Tatarka 3-15 0-0 6, Larance Racine 4-11 0-0 9, Jace Anderegg 5-14 1-1 11, Stan Gopher 2-6 0-0 6, Matthew Wyman 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 20-60 1-2 47.

GLACIER — Reid Siderius 2-6 1-2 6, Evan Epperly 3-10 1-3 7, Bryan Michaels 2-3 1-3 6, Logan Iverson 4-7 0-2 8, Matt Peters 4-13 5-5 13, Charlie Obermiller 1-3 0-0 2, Kalen Reed 2-4 1-6 5, Ryan Edwards 4-6 2-2 10. Totals: 22-52 11-23 57.

3-pointers — Great Falls 6-25 (Vining, Gopher 2), Glacier 2-13 (Siderius, Michaels); Rebounds — Great Falls 33 (Sukut 11), Glacier 37 (Iverson 11); Assists — Great Falls 14 (Racine 6), Glacier 18 (Peters 8); Blocks — Great Falls 1 (Anderegg), Glacier 2 (Michaels, Edwards); Steals — Great Falls 5 (Tatarka 2), Glacier 11 (Peters 4); Fouls — Great Falls 20, Glacier 14. Technical Fouls — none. Fouled out — Sukut