Glacier boys fall to Hellgate

BOZEMAN — For the second straight game at the Class A state basketball tournament, the Glacier boys played a team they handled easily twice before, only to fall to a hot-shooting opponent.

The season ended on Saturday for the Wolfpack, in a 50-48 loss to Missoula Hellgate at Montana State University.

The Pack played strong all game but had trouble countering the outside shooting of the Knights.

Leading for most of the first half, the Pack built a nine-point lead early in the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from Andy Boyer and Colton Harkins for a 20-11 advantage at the 5:44 mark.

But the Knights seemed to have more in their arsenal, answering with a barrage of long-range shots. Brendan Jones hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Knights to within three, 22-19.

After a Ryan Edwards score in the paint for Glacier, Zach Peevey hit an off-balance, one-handed shot from half court as the buzzer sounded, pulling Hellgate within two at halftime.

And the assault didn’t stop after the break. Jones hit two more at the start of the third and was followed seconds later by a shot from Brady Henthorn from a step inside the arc. vaulting the Knights to a 30-24 lead.

“They shot the ball very well,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“Credit to them. They hit shots when they had to.”

Glacier chipped away at the Hellgate lead, with Evan Epperly and Kyle Griffith hitting 3s. As the Pack focused on feeding the ball down to Edwards in the paint, it evened the score at 35-35.

Edwards, who was being hammered the entire game, made five of his first nine points from the free-throw line.

“They were being physical,” Harkins said.

“That seems to be the way teams were going to defend him. To try and push him off the block.”

Trailing 37-35 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack went back to Edwards to tie it up. The next trip down the floor Logan Iverson gave the Pack a 40-37 lead with a deep 3-pointer.

The teams traded points for the next few minutes until Hellgate was able to break free, with a midrange jumper from Lucas Wittkopp and a final 3-pointer from Jake Arledge, giving the Knights a 49-44 lead with three minutes to play.

Glacier (17-5) struggled to get those points back as Hellgate used its lead to run out the clock. The Pack used an athletic drive through the lane by Epperly to trim the deficit down to three, but couldn’t score again until an Iverson tip-in at the buzzer.

“It’s a hard fought game,” Harkins said.

“That’s every game when you get to the state tournament. Every team is good, every team wants to win. You’re going to be in battles every game.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but I’m never disappointed in my kids. They worked their tails off. They had a phenomenal season. I’m very proud of them.”

Edwards and Iverson each finished with 13 points to lead the Pack. Jones scored a game-high 17 to lead Hellgate.

The Wolfpack graduates four players from this squad, but returns most of its starters, including key scorers Edwards, Griffith and Epperly.

“Next year looks exciting,” Harkins said.

“There’s a lot of great kids in the program and they got a taste of what it takes down here. I look forward to that.”

Loser-Out Games

Glacier 14 10 11 13 — 48

Hellgate 11 11 15 13 — 50

GLACIER – Kyle Griffith 2-6 0-0 5, Evan Epperly 5-10 1-2 11, Colton Harkins 1-5 0-0 3, Sean Peters 0-4 0-0 0, Ryan Edwards 4-6 5-7 13, Charlie Obermiller 0-0 0-0 0, Andy Boyer 1-2 0-0 3, Reid Siderius 0-0 0-0 0, Bryan Michaels 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Iverson 4-7 4-6 13, Matt Peters 0-0 0-0 0, Karl Hellwig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-40 10-15 48.

HELLGATE – Brady Henthorn 3-4 1-2 8, Brendan Jones 6-13 0-0 17, Jake Arledge 1-4 1-3 4, Zach Peevey 5-14 0-2 12, Lucas Wittkopp 1-5 3-4 5, Dylan Harvala 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Bewley 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Booi 1-2 0-0 2, Pat Colberg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 5-11 50.

3-point goals – Glacier 6-19 (Epperly 2-7, Boyer 1-1, Iverson 1-1, Griffith 1-4, Harkins 1-5), Hellgate 9-23 (Jones 5-11, Peevey 2-7, Henthorn 1-2, Arledge 1-3). Total fouls – Glacier 13, Hellgate 12. Fouled out – Peters. Rebounds – Glacier 24 (Edwards 7), Hellgate 24 (Arledge 7, Peevey 7). Turnovers – Glacier 13, Hellgate 11. Assists – Glacier 10 (Griffith 3), Hellgate 13 (Henthorn 3, Arledge 3, Peevey 3). Steals – Glacier 6 (Griffith 2), Hellgate 6 (Jones 2, Peevey 2). Blocks – Glacier 2 (Edwards, Michaels), Hellgate 0.

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Billings Senior 13 11 14 20 — 58

Capital 19 16 10 14 — 59

SENIOR (13-11) — Luke Reinschmidt 4-8 2-2 11, Randy Karls 4-10 2-5 10, Trevin McNeil 2-5 1-1 5, Cooper Kouwenhoven 3-8 0-0 7, Trae Dolan 0-2 0-0 0, Skyler Scheetz 3-9 0-0 8, Chad Newell 2-4 2-5 6, Tad Rose 4-12 0-0 11. Totals: 22-58 7-13 58.

CAPITAL (17-7) — Bryson Smith 4-13 1-1 12, Gunnar Brekke 2-3 0-0 4, David Lindgren 0-1 2-2 2, Kyle Harrington 2-2 2-4 8, A.J. Wilson 3-4 3-8 12, Levi Dawes 3-5 0-2 6, Slaten Long 1-7 5-6 7, Carson Dummer 1-4 1-1 3, Caleb Kidder 1-3 3-4 5. Totals: 17-42 17-28 59.

3-pointers: Senior 7-25 (Reinschmidt 1-3, Karls 0-3, McNeil 0-1, Kouwenhoven 1-4, Scheetz 2-5, Rose 3-9), Capital 8-20 (Smith 3-10, Brekke 0-1, Lindgren 0-1, Harrington 2-2, Wilson 3-4, Long 0-2). Rebounds: Senior 32 (Newell 8), Capital 32 (Dawes 6). Assists: Senior 12 (Newell 4), Capital 12 (Harrington 4). Blocks: Senior 4 (Newell 3), Capital 1 (Wilson). Steals: Senior 5 (Karls 2), Capital 3 (Brekke, Lindgren, Wilson). Turnovers: Senior 10, Capital 14. Fouls: Senior 23, Capital 13. Fouled out: Reinschmidt. Technicals: None.