Flathead, Glacier battle for bragging rights

by The Daily Inter Lake
| February 2, 2012 12:14 AM

TODAY: Crosstown basketball -- Flathead vs. Glacier

TIPOFF: At Flathead, Girls, 6 p.m.; Boys, 8 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY: The Glacier boys lead the rivalry with five wins to the Braves' four after sweeping Flathead last season. The Glacier girls also swept their crosstown rivals last season and lead in their series with the Bravettes, 5-3.

BOUNCE BACK: Both boys teams are looking to rebound from a rough road trip to Helena last weekend. Flathead lost a pair of razor close games, losing to Helena High on Friday 54-52 and to Capital on Saturday 48-46. Before that the Braves had won three of five and was 2-0 in Western AA, they are now sitting at 6-6 overall. The Wolfpack was able to upset then-No. 4 Capital handily, winning 55-44, but fell at Helena 50-42. They bounced back on Tuesday with a 46-36 win over Hellgate. Glacier is now 9-3 this season, 3-2 in Western AA, and ranked fourth in Class AA. With both teams tied for third in conference, a win for either squad could serve as a boost for the tough schedule remaining.

VALIDATION: The Flathead girls were having a rough start to the Western AA schedule losing big to conference front-runners Sentinel and Helena High. Then on Saturday they bounced back from a lopsided defeat to the Bengals to beat Capital 53-52 for their first conference win of the season. They'll be looking to keep playing at that level when they host the Wolfpack tonight. The Pack (3-2 Western AA, 8-4 overall) has been on fire of late, with four-straight wins before dropping an overtime contest to Helena High on Saturday. They blew out Hellgate 40-26 on Tuesday in Missoula. Both teams will be looking to validate their recent play with a win tonight.

LEADERS: The Flathead boys are lead by Western AA's leading scorer, senior forward George Sherwood, who is averaging 16 points per game this season. Braves senior Matt McLean has also been on fire of late, pouring in 15 in the loss to Capital. The Wolfpack has two of the top five scorers in the league in junior guard Kyle Griffith and junior center Ryan Edwards. Griffith is averaging 13.6 points this season and the 6-foot-11 Edwards has been formidible inside, averaging 12.3 points per game.

Each of the girls teams has a pair of shooters on a hot streak. The Bravettes' Emma Andrews and Tess Brenneman have been on fire of late, with Andrews averaging nearly 15 points in her last three games and Brenneman averaging nearly 12 in that stretch. Glacier's Nicole Heavirland has scored at least 21 in two of her last three outings and sophomore Cassidy Hashley is averaging 14.2 points per game this season.