Knights pound Pack

Glacier held a lead and looked strong two minutes into its Western AA conference boys basketball game against No. 1 Missoula Hellgate.

Four offensive possessions and two alley-oops later, the top-ranked Knights were in full control of the contest, with star wing Tres Tinkle exploding for 35 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks to set the all-time scoring record at Hellgate.

The Wolfpack didn’t have an answer for the rangy, 6-foot-7 future Oregon State Beaver, who dominated from the tip. Tinkle hit a 3-pointer with his first touch and dunked his next while soaring over the Glacier zone.

He was a menace on both offense and defense, with nine rebounds and three blocks in the first half alone. With Hellgate leading 59-34 in the fourth quarter, he hit a pair of free throws before leading three straight fast-break buckets. He kept the first himself, scooped a rebound and dished to a streaking Connor Schenk on the next before calmly waiting for Glacier to bring the ball back to midcourt, where he picked the pocket of the Wolfpack ballhandler and rushed to the other end for an emphatic dunk to end his night.

“We had to account for him and we didn’t,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“We worked on different sets and what he likes to do. I thought we were pretty prepared. Obviously we weren’t.

“He’s a great player. I don’t think we executed the gameplan we had in place on either side of the ball.”

Glacier got to the rim early to take a 4-3 lead and looked like it may be able to hang with the Knights after they rimmed out two of their first three shots against the Wolfpack’s improving defense.

Then Glacier went cold, not hitting a bucket for another three minutes, and only two in the final six minutes of the first quarter to fall behind 22-9. The Wolfpack het just one shot in the first four minutes of the second quarter and was behind 32-11 just 12 minutes into the game.

By the time Hellgate’s starters left the floor, Glacier fell behind by 33 points, and eventually trailed by 35 before closing the gap in the final minutes.

“We wrote on the board at the end of the game, ‘Discipline,’” Harkins said.

“If we want to compete with the great teams in the state we have to have better discipline.

“We still have goals to make the state tournament, to play with that caliber of team. Tonight we learned what we have to do to get there.”

Devin Bray had 16 points for Hellgate, adding range with four 3-pointers.

Sam McCamley, Jaxen Hashley and Dylan Ruggles each had six points to lead Glacier.

The Wolfpack has a short turnaround to recover, playing at Flathead in the crosstown rivalry on Thursday.

Hellgate    22    21    15    15    —    73

Glacier    9    12    11    10    —    42

HELLGATE — Tres Tinkle 14-20 6-9 35, Rhett Baerlocher 2-7 2-2 8, Devin Bray 6-11 0-0 16, Mark Lebsock 0-6 0-0 0, Brayden Frohlich 2-5 1-2 5, Peter Vandam 0-1 2-2 2, Collis 0-1 0-0 0, Easton Packard 1-3 2-2 4, Connor Schenk 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 26-56 14-19 73.

GLACIER — Kade McCutcheon 1-4 0-0 3, Sam McCamley 3-7 0-0 6, Jaxen Hashley 3-9 0-0 6, Cain Boschee 1-3 0-0 2, Truman Pisk 2-4 0-2 4, Tucker Rauthe 2-3 1-2 5, Noah Lindsay 0-4 3-4 3, Dylan Ruggles 2-4 0-0 6, Tadan Gilman 1-4 0-0 2, Jake Norberg 1-5 0-0 3, Cody Norberg 1-2 0-0 2, Josh Hill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 4-8 42.

3-point goals — Hellgate 7-23 (Bray 4-6, Baerlocher 2-5, Tinkle 1-3), Glacier 4-17 (Ruggles 2-4, McCutcheon 1-2, J. Norberg 1-4). Rebounds — Hellgate 40 (Tinkle 13), Glacier 24 (Rauthe 4). Assists — Hellgate 15 (Bray 4), Glacier 12 (McCutcheon 3). Blocks — Hellgate 5 (Tinkle 4), Glacier 0. Total fouls — Hellgate 11, Glacier 14.