Glacier glides past Braves, 57-41
Glacier guard Tadan Gilman is blocked by Flathead guard Tyler Johnson as he drives to the basket during the first quarter at Glacier on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier post Jaxen Hashley rises above Flathead defenders Cade White, left and Wyatt Potter for a basket. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
By JOSEPH TERRY
The Daily Inter Lake
The Glacier boys dominated from the tip, beating Flathead 57-41 in a Western AA basketball game on Thursday night at Glacier High School.
The Wolfpack (12-1 overall, 5-0 Western AA) opened the game on a 10-2 run, led by seven points from Jaxen Hashley and capped by the first of eight 3-pointers in the game.
Glacier led 17-8 after the first quarter and held Flathead (6-8, 2-4) without a field goal after the 6:27 mark of the second quarter, building its lead to 34-13 at half.
“I thought we came out well,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.
“From the very beginning we challenged them for a quick start. We challenged them to execute the things we wanted to do and they did that, both offensively and defensively. They executed our game plan very well. I thought it was a very workmanlike effort tonight.”
Glacier continued to build its lead in the third quarter, opening on a 12-3 run, capped by a layup from kody Jarvis that stretched the Wolfpack lead to 30 points.
Flathead closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the score to 46-22 entering the final eight minutes. With the Glacier starters out for the last four minutes of play, the Braves began to make a dent in the deficit, closing the game on a 16-6 run.
Hashley finished the contest with 19 points and 15 rebounds, also adding four assists and two blocks to his scoresheet. Jarvis had 10 points for the Wolfpack. Glacier shot 51 percent from the field.
“We did really good as a team just getting inside,” Hashley said. “It helps when everyone is hitting 3s. It goes both ways.”
Sam Elliott led Flathead with 12 points and Cooper Barrett had 10 points in the loss.
“It wasn’t our best game, for sure,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said. “We didn’t play well and I thought Glacier played really well.
“I need to do a better job and come up with a better game plan. I don’t think you’re going to stop that kid (Hashley). He’s really good. I’ve got to come up with a little better plan to maybe slow him down and make it harder than it was.”
Glacier faces Missoula Sentinel at home on Saturday to look to stay atop the Western conference. Flathead hosts the Helena schools next weekend.
Flathead 8 5 9 19 — 41
Glacier 17 17 12 11 — 57
FLATHEAD — Cade White 1 0-0 2, Sam Elliott 4 3-4 12, Cole Gunderson 1 0-0 3, Oz Allen 0 2-2 2, Cooper Barrett 3 2-2 10, Bridger Johnson 1 0-1 2, Eric Seaman 3 0-0 6, Wyatt Potter 1 1-2 4. Totals: 14 8-11 41.
GLACIER — Torin Bowden 0 1-2 1, Bryce Grame 1 0-0 3, Jack Desmul 0 1-2 1, Jaxen Hashley 9 1-2 19, Collin Kazmier 2 0-0 6, Kody Jarvis 4 0-0 10, Pat O’Connell 3 0-0 6, Brec Rademacher 2 0-0 6, Tadan Gilman 2 0-0 5. Totals: 23 3-6 57.
3-point goals—Flathead 5-15 (Barrett 2-3, Gunderson 1-1, Elliott 1-3, Potter 1-4, Seaman 0-1, Johnson 0-3), Glacier 8-20 (Kazmier 2-2, Jarvis 2-4, Rademacher 2-5, Grame 1-1, Gilman 1-4, Harkins 0-2, Martin 0-1, Hashley 0-1). Rebounds—Flathead 17 (Elliott 5), Glacier 25 (Hashley 15). Total fouls—Flathead 11, Glacier 16. Fouled out—none.