Wolfpack cagers rip Sentinel
The Glacier boys held Missoula Sentinel to three field goals in the first half, rolling by the Spartans 56-32 to stay undefeated in conference basketball play Saturday at Glacier High School.
The Wolfpack (5-1 overall, 2-0 Western AA) dominated play from the defensive end, shaking off a slow start to hold Sentinel scoreless for the final six minutes of the first quarter. The Spartans failed to score a field goal for the final seven minutes of the second half as Glacier extended its lead to double digits.
“I thought we had a great defensive effort,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “We changed a lot of stuff there. We’ve been working on that over the break. I thought they did a nice job of changing on the fly. I thought the defensive intensity was good.”
The smaller Sentinel squad struggled to get the ball inside, scoring just four points in the paint all game. The Spartans attempted just two layups with Glacier’s 7-foot center Ryan Edwards on the floor. Edwards blocked both.
All but two other tries to get the ball to the post were stolen or knocked away, with the Wolfpack guards collapsing on back cuts Sentinel tried to use to get around Glacier’s big center. Glacier recorded 14 steals, with five Wolfpack players picking up at least two.
“That’s part of our zone,” Harkins said. “The kids did a good job on that.”
Sentinel’s focus on Edwards left lots of lanes for Glacier’s plethora of wings and guards. Ten Wolfpack players scored in the game, most on high-percentage shots near the basket. Glacier needed just three shots from outside the paint, two coming in the game’s first two minutes. Every other point came on layups, post plays or free throws.
“There were two wills in that game,” Harkins said.
“They wanted to keep it slow and methodical, we wanted to get up the floor. They did a good job early, but I thought our kids adjusted well and were able to get it going.”
The Wolfpack offense was really able to get going in the third quarter, putting on the full-court press and getting on the fast break. Glacier closed the quarter on a 13-2 run, entering the fourth with a 45-21 lead. The big lead allowed the Wolfpack to sit its starters for the game’s final eight minutes.
“We have a lot of guys who can run the floor well. When we can get out and run like that, and if we don’t get it we can bring it out and pound the ball inside, that’s when we’re most effective,” Harkins said.
“We have a lot of kids that can play. We have a deep bench and we want to use that. That’s part of our game plan. Playing a fast pace we know we can go to guys that are used to that and test the other team’s benches.”
Matt Peters led the Wolfpack with 11 points and five assists. Logan Iverson scored nine points and Bryan Michaels had seven points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Trevor Powell led the Spartans (1-6, 0-2) with 10 points and Tres Cunningham had nine points and a team-high five rebounds and three steals.
Glacier plays next at Columbia Falls (6-1 overall, 1-0 Northwestern A) on Thursday. The Wildcats played close with the only other AA team they’ve played this season, losing to Flathead 53-50.
Sentinel 7 7 7 11 — 32
Glacier 14 14 17 11 — 56
SENTINEL — Jake Messerly 1-4 2-2 4, Sean Laughnan 2-5 0-0 6, Violette 0-5 1-2 1, Tres Cunningham 2-6 3-4 9, Trevor Powell 4-11 0-0 10, Kyle Douglass 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 10-36 6-10 32.
GLACIER — Kyle Griffith 2-4 1-2 5, Evan Epperly 3-6 1-3 7, Logan Iverson 4-5 0-0 9, Matt Peters 4-8 3-3 11, Ryan Edwards 1-2 1-3 3, Charlie Obermiller 1-2 0-0 2, Reid Siderius 1-4 3-4 5, Bryan Michaels 3-5 1-1 7, Kalen Reed 1-2 2-2 4, Nate Brown 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 21-39 12-18 56.
3-pointers — Sentinel 6-17 (Laughnan, Cunningham, Powell 2), Glacier 2-7 (Iverson, Brown). Rebounds — Sentinel 21 (Cunningham 5), Glacier 26 (Michaels 8). Assists — Sentinel 6 (Violette 2), Glacier 14 (Peters 5). Blocks — Sentinel 0, Glacier 3 (Edwards 2). Steals — Sentinel 8 (Cunningham 3), Glacier 14 (Five with 2). Fouls — Sentinel 18, Glacier 15. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none.