Glacier boys rally past Flathead

Like a spark igniting a powder keg, Glacier senior forward Logan Iverson’s fourth-quarter three-pointer triggered an explosion inside the Flathead High School gym on Tuesday.

Bryan Michaels followed with another three and Glacier went on an 11-0 run to turn a close basketball game against crosstown-rival Flathead into a 57-43 rout.

With a dynamic combination of size and athleticism, Glacier (11-2 overall, 4-1 Western AA) looked poised to go on a game-changing run all evening, but Flathead (8-4, 3-2) kept its rival at bay until the fourth quarter when the Braves’ tired legs wouldn’t allow them to close out on Glacier’s shooters.

Glacier senior guard Kyle Griffith said he knew a run was coming.

“It usually starts with defensive pressure,” he said. “We have to get pumped up and then the run usually happens in the second half, so we kind of figured it would happen sooner or later.”

Flathead upset the higher-seeded Wolfpack a year ago in the semifinals of the state tournament and Griffith said that loss was on his mind heading into the first crosstown game of this season.

“We had a chip on our shoulder from last time,” he said. “We definitely didn’t forget about it.”

The win helped Glacier maintain a share of first place in the Western AA standings while Flathead dropped to fourth.

The intensity of the rivalry was on display early. Griffith nearly had his front teeth kicked in during the first quarter, but he returned minutes later with a mouth guard. Flathead’s Chandler Escalante limped off the court in the second quarter before returning in the second half.

“It was probably the most intense it’s been since I’ve been playing,” Iverson said.

With the two student sections shouting back-and-forth and a standing-room only crowd, Griffith said the atmosphere rivaled the state tournament and Glacier coach Mark Harkins said the biggest challenge for his team was maintaining its composure, especially against a tough opponent like Flathead.

“This place is electric,” Harkins said. “This is one of the neatest places to play. It’s so intimate down here. Everybody’s right on top of each other and it’s hard to keep your composure. You’ve got coaches yelling at you, fans yelling at you, but I thought the kids did a good job.”

Glacier briefly led early before Flathead went on a 8-0 run to take a 12-8 lead. Griffith answered with a three-pointer before the Braves scored the next four points to extend their lead to five points by the end of the first quarter.

Flathead took its biggest lead of the half, 22-15, midway through the second quarter after a three-pointer by Escalante, but Glacier cut its deficit to 25-21 at halftime after 7-foot center Ryan Edwards knocked down a pair of free throws and guard Matt Peters scored two layups in transition.

Flathead coach Fred Febach said he knew Glacier would make a charge in the second half.

“I’ve been in situations where we’ve been up big at halftime and they’ve come back, so the game certainly wasn’t over,” he said. “We knew it as going to be a real battle in the second half.”

The two centers paced their teams early in the third quarter. Forced to extend his range with Edwards under the basket, 6-8 Flathead center Garth West drilled a 14-foot baseline jumper before Edwards answered with a turnaround hook from the low post. West beat Edwards inside on Flathead’s next possession, then hit a 16-footer from the elbow to give the Braves an eight-point lead.

Glacier went on a 9-1 run to knot the score at 32 and, four possessions later, Michaels hit a three-pointer to give the Wolfpack a 35-34 lead.

Flathead evened the score at 38-all two minutes into the fourth quarter before Iverson struck from three-point range and awoke the Glacier offense, which outscored the Braves 22-9 in the final frame.

“We left somebody open,” Febach said. “You can’t leave shooters open like we have recently. They got those back-to-back threes and that just got them rolling.”

While Iverson’s three started Glacier’s 11-0 run, Harkins said his team’s defense kept the run going. The Wolfpack got consecutive steals from Edwards and Michaels which led to points on the other end.

“We played some pretty good pressure defense all game and finally I think we got to them,” Harkins said. “We got some momentum going, got some tips and we were able to get out on our break. Our defense created offensive opportunities and that was the key I think.”

Griffith led the Wolfpack with 15 points. Iverson scored 13 and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Edwards finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

West and Escalante led Flathead with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Glacier travels to Missoula Hellgate on Thursday while Flathead is off until Saturday when it hosts Hellgate.

Glacier 11 10 14 22 — 57

Flathead 16 9 9 9 — 43

GLACIER - Kyle Griffith 6-10 1-2 15, Logan Iverson 6-12 0-1 13, Ryan Edwards 4-6 2-2 10, Matt Peters 3-5 1-2 7, Bryan Michaels 2-7 1-2 7, Evan Epperly 2-8 0-1 5, Reid Siderius 0-1 0-0 0, Charlie Obermiller 0-0 0-0 0, Kalen Reed 0-0 0-0 0.

FLATHEAD - Garth West 7-10 0-1 14, Chandler Escalante 4-5 2-2 12, Shea Schroeder 3-8 1-2 7, Matthew Tokarz 1-2 1-2 4, Matt Quist 1-5 2-4 4, Adam Bradley 1-2 0-0 2, Blaine Newman 0-6 0-0 0, Will Cronk 0-1 0-2 0, Kaleb Cannaday 0-0 0-0 0.

3-point goals - Glacier 6-15 (Griffith 2, Michaels 2), Flathead 3-7 (Escalante 2, Tokarz 1). Rebounds - Glacier 21 (Iverson 8, Edwards 6), Flathead 30 (Tokarz 7, West 7). Assists - Glacier 11 (Griffith 2, Epperly 2, Iverson 2, Peters 2, Edwards 2), Flathead 13 (Schroeder 4, Tokarz 3). Blocks - Glacier 5 (Edwards 4, Griffith), Flathead 4 (Quist, Newman, Schroeder, West). Steals - Glacier 10 (Griffith 2, Iverson 2, Peters 2, Edwards 2), Flathead 5 (Quist 2). Turnovers - Glacier 8, Flathead 17. Team fouls - Glacier 15, Flathead 10. Technical fouls - none. Fouled out - Schroeder.