Crosstown time for Flathead, Glacier basketball
The season’s first crosstown basketball matchup for Glacier and Flathead tips off tonight at Flathead High School.
The girls have the honor of going first with a 6 p.m. start. The boys follow at approximately 8.
This series has been dominated by the Glacier boys and girls. The Wolfpack boys are 14-5 overall while the girls are 14-3. Those records include postseason play.
The Glacier boys have won seven straight in the series while the girls have won 11 (the last loss was in the third season — 2009-10).
This is also the stretch drive for both AA schools with conference action dominating the schedules before state play-in games and the state tournament in Bozeman March 10-12.
“We’re really excited,” Glacier girls coach Kris Salonen said about the five final weeks of the regular season.
“This is really the start of conference play. We have been away from it for a couple weeks.”
The Flathead and Glacier boys are both looking for their first conference win after two losses.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said of this matchup.
“All conference games are important, not only the crosstown rivalry.
“The atmosphere (packed gyms at both schools) is a great been part of this rivalry,” he continued.
“This is my fourth year. It’s probably one of the best in the state. Kalispell is unique in that it does not have a college team like most AA towns do, so this is the game.”
The Glacier girls are 1-1 in league play while Flathead is 0-2.
“For us to be successful offensively, we have to be aggressive,” Salonen said.
“That is something we struggled with early on in the season. We’ve gotten better.”
Glacier is also taking better care of the basketball, which has helped. In a 58-47 victory last Saturday against Lake City in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the Wolfpack had just 12 turnovers. That compares to a season high 25 earlier against Missoula Sentinel.
Two of the top scorers in AA will be on the court for the girls. Tiana Johnson, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, is averaging 14.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for Flathead.
Hailee Bennett, a 5-7 senior guard, is averaging 14.6 points for Glacier.
“We have to be aware of where she’s at all the time,” Salonen said of Johnson.
“She’s a very good shooter.”
Tadan Gilman, a 6-1 junior guard, tops the Glacier boys in scoring with a 12.6 average.
Matt Marshall, a 6-0 senior guard, is averaging 12.2 points for Flathead.
Rebounding leaders for both schools are Noah Lindsay, a 6-4 senior forward for Glacier, with 5.9 per game, and Cade White, a 6-1 junior forward for Flathead, with 4.9.
“Our defense has been pretty solid, especially in the half court,” Gustafson said.
“And I feel like we’re getting good point-guard play out of Matt Marshall. Those are a couple positives. We’re still working on putting it all together.”
Gustafson said inconsistent play “as far as effort and execution” on offense is still a trouble spot at times.
Glacier is back in action Thursday with the boys hosting Hellgate while the girls travel to Missoula to play Hellgate.
Flathead continues with league play on Saturday with the boys at Missoula Hellgate while the girls host Hellgate.
Class AA Standings
Boys
Western Division
League Overall
W L W L
Missoula Big Sky 4 0 8 2
Helena High 2 0 5 5
Missoula Sentinel 2 1 6 4
Missoula Hellgate 1 2 7 3
Helena Capital 1 3 5 5
Flathead 0 2 3 7
Glacier 0 2 3 7
Eastern Division
Billings Skyview 4 0 10 0
Bozeman 4 1 10 1
Billings West 2 2 7 3
Great Falls 2 2 6 5
Billings Senior 2 3 5 6
C.M. Russell 1 3 4 7
Butte 0 4 1 9
Girls
Western Division
League Overall
W L W L
Missoula Sentinel 3 0 10 0
Helena High 2 0 8 2
Missoula Hellgate 2 1 7 3
Glacier 1 1 7 3
Missoula Big Sky 2 2 6 4
Flathead 0 2 4 6
Helena Capital 0 4 4 6
Eastern Division
Great Falls 4 0 10 1
Billings west 3 1 8 2
Bozeman 3 2 6 5
Billings Senior 3 2 5 6
C.M. Russell 1 3 3 8
Butte 1 3 1 9
Billings Skyview 0 4 3 7
Class AA Stats
Boys
Scoring Leaders
Avg
1 Brendan Howard GFH 25.6
2 Braydon Deming West 17.5
3 Bryson Deming West 17.5
4 Aaron Weidenaar Bozeman 16.3
5 Taylor England Helena 15.8
6 Ragen Shein Helena 15.6
7 Karl Tucker II CMR 15.4
8 Jake Tabish Big Sky 15.0
9 RayQuan Evans Skyview 14.5
10 Alex Simmons Big Sky 13.3
11 Tadan Gilman Glacier 12.6
12 Connor Schenk Hellgate 12.5
13 Braxton Haws Senior 12.3
14 Sam Vining CMR 12.3
15 Daniel Silverstein GFH 12.2
16 Matt Marshall Flathead 12.2
17 Trace Bradshaw Bozeman 11.6
18 Sam Beighle Sentinel 11.4
19 Brock Powell Butte 11.0
20 Bennett Hostetler Bozeman 10.8
Rebounding
Avg
1 Brendan Howard GFH 10.6
2 Braydon Deming West 9.5
3 Taylor England Helena 9.4
4 Dylan Cook Butte 7.5
5 Connor Schenk Hellgate 7.1
6 Ragen Shein Helena 7.1
7 Trace Bradshaw Bozeman 7.1
8 Aaron Weidenaar Bozeman 7.0
9 Brock Powell Butte 6.2
10 Drew Sheridan Big Sky 6.2
11 Connor Dowdy Capital 6.0
12 Noah Lindsay Glacier 5.9
13 Nick Yovetich Big Sky 5.3
14 Bennett Hostetler Bozeman 5.3
15 Payton Stott Skyview 5.2
16 Ethan Jones Sentinel 5.1
17 Nick Tranel Skyview 5.0
18 Cade White Flathead 4.9
19 Kody Torgerson GFH 4.9
20 Mac Turner Senior 4.7
Girls
Scoring
Avg
1 Haylea Elkin West 18.3
2 Shannon Worster Sentinel 15.9
3 Tiana Johnson Flathead 14.7
4 Hailee Bennett Glacier 14.6
5 Addison Gardner CMR 12.8
6 Tjaden Pallister Capital 12.2
7 Nora Klick GFH 12.2
8 Caitlin Lonergan Bozeman 12.0
9 Jeanann Lemelin Senior 11.7
10 Hannah Collins GFH 11.4
11 Emerald Toth Bozeman 11.0
12 Sidney Riddle Hellgate 10.4
13 Brianna Shirley West 10.4
14 Kendall Mooney Big Sky 10.2
15 Taelyr Krantz Helena 9.9
16 Kola Bad Bear Senior 9.8
17 Ally Cleverly Butte 9.6
18 Kylie Frolich Sentinel 9.6
19 Cody Rogers West 9.6
20 Kamden Hilborn Helena 9.1
Rebounding
Avg
1 Kennedy Hildebrand West 10.0
2 Emerald Toth Bozeman 9.7
3 Caitlin Lonergan Bozeman 9.0
4 Brianna Shirley West 7.0
5 Shanna Floerchinger Helena 6.9
6 Kylie Frolich Sentinel 6.8
7 Tiana Johnson Flathead 6.6
8 Abby Dodge Butte 6.1
9 Kola Bad Bear Senior 6.1
10 Cailey Froehle CMR 6.0
11 Molly Schmitz GFH 5.8
12 Molly Little Skyview 5.7
13 Haylea Elkin West 5.6
14 Kendall Mooney Big Sky 5.6
15 Katie Stahl Hellgate 5.4
16 Courtney Mitchell Glacier 5.3
17 Julia Riekena Big Sky 5.2
18 Taylor Sullivan Capital 5.2
19 Jacey Reiter Skyview 5.1
20 Kelsi McEnaney Big Sky 5.0