Glacier topples Flathead for trip to Class AA state basketball tournament
<p>Glacier senior wing Bryan Michaels (11) and senior guard Evan Epperly celebrate with fans Friday night after Glacier’s Western AA state play-in basketball victory over Flathead at Glacier High School. </p>
<p>Glacier senior guard Evan Epperly goes up for a shot over Flathead senior Blaine Newman Friday night during Western AA state play-in basketball action at Glacier High School. </p>
The Glacier Wolfpack sealed their trip to the state tournament in Billings, winning their Class AA play-in boys basketball game 64-52 on their homecourt over crosstown rival Flathead on Friday night.
It was the third crosstown game of the year and, much like the first two, the intensity was high and the gym was packed.
Glacier got out to a quick start behind senior Kyler Harkins’ nine first-quarter points. In three consecutive trips down the court, Glacier faced Flathead’s zone defense, swung it around arc and found Harkins in the corner where he drained his three field goals from behind the arc. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 19-9 lead at the end of the first period.
Glacier made the first two field goals of the second quarter, forcing Flathead coach Fred Febach to call a timeout in hope of stalling the Wolfpack’s momentum.
Coming out of the timeout, Blaine Newman lobbed a pass to senior Matt Quist, who elevated off of a back-door cut along the baseline, catching the ball near the top of the backboard square and finishing the alley-oop with a two handed dunk that silenced the Glacier fans as Flathead’s went wild.
The play sparked an 11-5 run for the Braves, and they went into halftime trailing 28-22.
Flathead came out of the break strong, using some defensive stops and a Chandler Escalante 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two.
Glacier stood strong, however. Senior Bryan Michaels scored seven of his game-high 20 points in the third quarter and Glacier ended the period on an 8-0 run to keep the Braves at a 10-point distance.
Hoping for one last run to defeat their rival for the first time this season, Flathead went cold to start the final quarter, and Glacier jumped out to a 14-point lead with just over 4 minutes to play.
As desperation sunk in, the Braves began to increase their 3-point attempts. Newman’s trey from the left slot was followed by Will Cronk’s only 3-pointer of the night. On Flathead’s next possession, Newman hit another.
But for Flathead, every triple they hit was immediately asnwered by a strong drive and lay-up from Michaels. He kept the Braves at bay, until the final buzzer sounded and Glacier students rushed the court.
Michales finished the fourth quarter with nine points and ended the game with a double-double as he grabbed 12 rebounds.
“My teammates just set me up well,” Michaels said.
“They hit those three’s. We’ve got to give them credit, but I think we responded really well on the other end.”
Glacier senior Evan Epperly finished the night with 12 points and five steals as he gave the Braves’ guards trouble all night.
Harkins, also in double-figures, finished the game with 11 points and Tanner Olsen chipped in eight for the Wolfpack.
The Braves were led by Quist, who’s double-double featured 16 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Newman totaled nine points while Cronk added eight for Flathead, a team that couldn’t overcome the upstart Wolfpack and fell to their rival fro the third time this season.
“Offensively we challenged our kids to come out fast and they did. The second quarter we kind of hit a low point, but they weathered that and made some big shots down the stretch for us,” Glacier head coach Mark Harkins said.
“Bryan’s a great shooter, and in the last couple games he’s decided he’s going to get to the rim and he’s been effective in doing. I thought he had a fantastic night tonight.
“(Flathead) is a great team and coach (Fred) Febach always has them well prepared and you know they’re going to have a new wrinkle in their scheme every time you play them. It was tough. I thought our coaching staff did a great job tonight.”
The Billings-bound Wolfpack will have a week to prepare for the Class AA state tournament, but Glacier has high hopes as they come out of the Western Conference.
“I’m so excited. This is our dream, it’s one of the goals we wrote down. It’s exciting,” Michaels said.
Flathead 9 13 10 20 — 52
Glacier 19 9 14 22 — 64
FLATHEAD — Blaine Newman 3-11 0-0 9, Will Cronk 1-4 5-6 8, Chandler Escalante 2-12 0-2 5, Adam Bradley 2-2 1-1 5, Matt Quist 8-13 0-2 16, Easton Johnson 2-6 3-5 7, Trae Habel 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 18-50 11-18 52.
GLACIER — Evan Epperly 5-18 2-6 12, Bryan Michaels 9-15 2-6 20, Kyler Harkins 3-13 2-4 11, Tanner Olsen 1-6 6-6 8, Kevin Malloy 1-4 1-2 3, Sam McCamley 1-4 0-0 3, Cain Boschee 0-1 2-2 2, Jaxen Hashley 0-4 3-4 3, Truman Pisk 0-0 2-2 2, Totals 20-65 20-32 64.
3-point goals — Flathead 5-20 (Newman 3-10, Cronk 1-2, Escalante 1-7), Glacier 4-18 (Harkins 3-8 McCamley 1-4), Rebounds — Flathead 43 (Quist 15), Glacier 46 (Michaels 12). Assists — Flathead 15 (Cronk 5), Glacier 16 (Epperly4 , Michaels 4). Steals — Flathead 12 (Cronk, Newman 2), Glacier 21 (Epperly 5). Totals fouls — Flathead 23, Glacier 17. Fouled out — Flathead (Adams), Glacier (Malloy). Turnovers — Flathead 24, Glacier 12.