Glacier whips Capital

The Glacier boys systematically dismantled Helena Capital on Saturday afternoon, beating the visiting Bruins 57-43 to claim sole possession of first place in Western AA.

The No. 3-ranked Wolfpack controlled the game from the start, feeding big man Ryan Edwards early and often in the first quarter. The 6-foot-11 center scored nine points in the first, capping a 9-3 run by the Pack with a jump shot from 15 feet to give Glacier a 15-7 lead six minutes into the contest.

Glacier closed the first quarter with a 16-10 lead. The Pack held off a strong push by the Bruins to start the second. No. 4 Capital avoided Glacier's length down low, hitting a pair of deep shots to cut into the Wolfpack lead.

Leading just 20-17 with three minutes to play in the half, Glacier closed the second on a 7-2 run, leaning on its athletic frontcourt to take the momentum, and a 27-19 lead, into halftime.

The Pack dominated the third quarter, opening with a 10-4 run to take a 38-23 lead. After a mid-range shot from Capital's Cale Jacobsen cut into the lead, Glacier showed its dominance the next trip down the floor, keeping alive the possession three separate times after missed shots and closing with a putback from Colton Harkins.

Evan Epperly spread the lead even further one possession later, driving into the lane and spinning off a defender before pulling up and sinking a shot from eight feet to give the Pack a 42-25 lead.

The Pack outrebounded the Bruins 39-25, keeping Capital to one shot on most of its possessions.

Glacier led 44-30 after the third quarter and spread the lead to as much as 18, leading 55-37 with two minutes to play, before closing the game with free throws.

"They have great shooters and good presence on the inside so they're the whole team," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. "We told our guys, ‘You have to compete every possession.' And I thought we did."

Edwards had a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, finishing with his second double-double in as many games. In addition to his post moves, the emergence of a mid-range game made him almost impossible to guard on Saturday.

"He's extending his game," Harkins said. "He's playing great. He's a huge presence and defensively he alters shots. They had him for six blocks tonight, he's such a presence in the paint."

Three Wolfpack players finished in double digits, with Sean Peters scoring 13 and Epperly adding 11. Glacier is now 8-2 in Western AA and 14-3 overall after sweeping the Helena schools this weekend. The Wolfpack holds a tiebreaker with Capital atop the conference after sweeping the Bruins this season.

"It was a great weekend for us," Harkins said. "I was really happy with their effort both offensively and defensively. We're starting to do some good things, defensively especially."

Jacobsen led Capital (8-2, 12-6) with 13 points.

Glacier closes the regular season with a trip to Hellgate on Tuesday and the crosstown closer at home against Flathead on Friday. Glacier beat Hellgate 46-36 at home in January and Flathead 68-63 at FHS earlier this month.

"Right now we're sitting up there (in first place), but, we have two very tough games coming up," Harkins said.

"Those are gonna be monster games for us."

Helena Capital 10 9 11 13 - 43

Glacier 16 11 17 13 - 57

CAPITAL - Cale Jacobsen 4 2-2 13, AJ Wilson 2 2-2 6, Slaten Long 3 0-0 6, Levi Dawes 2 1-2 5, Bryson Smith 2 0-0 4, David Lindgren 1 0-0 3, Kyle Harrington 1 0-0 3, Carson Dummer 1 0-1 2, Sean Carroll 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16 6-9 43.

GLACIER - Ryan Edwards 8 1-1 17, Sean Peters 6 1-2 13, Evan Epperly 4 2-2 11, Kyle Griffith 3 0-0 6, Colton Harkins 2 1-1 5, Karl Hellwig 0 3-4 3, Logan Iverson 0 2-2 2. Totals: 23 10-12 57.

3-point goals: Capital 5-18 (Jacobsen 3), Glacier 1-12 (Epperly); Rebounds: Capital 25 (Dawes 7), Glacier 39 (Edwards 11); Fouls: Capital 14, Glacier 9; Fouled out: none.