Glacier boys bound into AA basketball state semis

GREAT FALLS — The Glacier boys pushed their way into the semifinals at the Class AA state basketball tournament on Thursday at Four Seasons Arena, shutting down Billings West in the third quarter on the way to a 56-49 opening round victory.

The Wolfpack (18-3) took control of the game in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 6-0 run, pushing the ball in transition.

West (12-8) fought back to within four points but the Pack closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to build a 39-29 lead.

Glacier stretched the run to 9-0 early in the fourth quarter to build a 12-point lead by the time West was forced to foul to extend the game. After a shaky few trips to the free-throw line saw the lead shrink back to five points, the Wolfpack made its final six attempts to ice the game.

“They worked really hard,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “We were a little sloppy on some things. Their effort was phenomenal. I thought we rebounded real well, I really like our defense. Offensively, I thought we turned the ball over too much, especially in the first half. It got better as (the game) went on.

“They brought the pressure on us. It was a little ugly, but down the stretch we hit some free throws and I was really proud of them.”

Glacier held a slight lead after a low-scoring first quarter, but pushed the pace early in the second, using a 9-2 run to build an 18-10 lead midway through the frame.

West countered with an 8-2 run of its own to tie the score at 20-20, but a 3-pointer before half from Glacier junior Caden Harkins gave the Wolfpack a narrow lead into the break.

Jaxen Hashley led Glacier with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Tadan Gilman had 14 points and Caden Harkins 12 points.

Bryson Deming scored 17 points for West and twin brother Braydon Deming had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The pair finished 3 for 13 from deep and the Bears were 3 for 21 for the game.

“That was our focus. We wanted to make sure we always had a hand up, always knew where they were and not give them any open looks,” coach Harkins said.

I thought the kids executed defensively pretty good. We lost them a couple of times but overall I was pleased.”

The Wolfpack advances to the semifinals for the fourth time in school history, where it will face Billings Skyview today at 3:30 p.m. The Falcons edged Missoula Sentinel 54-52 in the first game of the tournament.

West 6 14 9 20 – 49

Glacier 8 15 16 17 – 56

BILLINGS West – Jake Bell 1-3 0-0 2, Kaleb Martin 1-3 0-0 2, Bryson Deming 5-15 6-6 17, Braydon Deming 5-13 2-2 14, DJ Peretti 1-5 0-0 2, Carson Prokop 0-0 0-0 0, Cleveland Harvey 1-7 0-0 2, Jesse Owens 1-5 1-1 7, Cole Devries 0-1 0-0 0, Kobe Nelson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-60 10-10 49.

Glacier – Caden Harkins 2-5 6-6 12, Tadan Gilman 5-8 4-5 14, Collin Kazmier 0-1 0-0 0, Brec Rademacher 1-4 0-0 3, Jaxen Hashley 6-13 3-44 15, Pat O’Connell 2-2 4-5 8, Turin Bowden 1-2 0-3 , Jack Desmul 1-1 0-2 2, Cody Hartsoch 0-0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Kody Jarvis 0-1 0-0 0, Bryce Grame 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-37 17-25 56.

3-point goals – West 3-21 (Bra. Deming 2-7, Bry. Deming 1-6), Glacier 3-10 (Hawkins 2-5, Rademacher 1-4). Rebounds – West 32 (Bra. Deming 10), Glacier 34 (Hashley 17). Total fouls – West 21, Glacier 11. Fouled out – none.

Bozeman 73, Flathead 60

GREAT FALLS — Flathead gave top-seed Bozeman a run, but couldn’t keep pace in the fourth quarter, falling to loser-out play.

Bozeman (18-3) rocketed off to a fast start, leading 7-0 after the first two minutes. Flathead (12-10) ripped off a 6-2 run to get back within reach and kept the game close into the second quarter.

Bozeman started to create some separation ahead of halftime when it began to catch fire from deep. The Hawks hit three 3s on a 12-4 run to build a 29-21 lead with 1:27 to play, entering the break up 31-25.

Flathead reeled the Hawks back in, however, late in the third with junior guard Tyler Johnson exploding for 15 points in the quarter, his second 3-pointer from 30-feet out cutting the Bozeman lead to 47-46 with 1:18 left in the frame.

“He was phenomenal,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said. “He’s stepped up the last couple of weeks and tonight on the big stage at the state tournament he stepped up again and got the ball in the hole and made plays. He kept us in there.”

The Hawks pulled away early in the fourth, led by senior Bailey Harlin. The guard hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game to open the quarter, then forced his way to the free-throw line for a personal 6-2 run to give Bozeman a 58-50 lead and get Flathead in foul trouble.

Bozeman exploded for a pair of dunks in the middle of the quarter and began to dominate the offensive glass. The Hawks then held Flathead scoreless for nearly the last four minutes of the game, with the Braves unable to find a bucket until a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to play. Sophomore Anthony Jones hit a 3 at the buzzer to help the final score cosmetically.

“It definitely wasn’t because of a lack of effort,” Gustafson said. “We just couldn’t get defensive stops, especially at the start of the fourth quarter. We just couldn’t get stops.

“They made plays, just not enough at the defensive end.”

Johnson had a game-high 26 points but was shut out in the fourth quarter. Sam Elliott had 12 points for the Braves.

Harlin had 25 points to lead Bozeman, which had four players score in double digits.

“We got a little bit gassed,” Gustafson said. “Tyler, Eric (Seaman) and Sam played a lot of minutes. I probably could have done a better job of subbing out.

“Hand it to Bozeman. They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason. They can fill it up.”

Flathead will play Missoula Hellgate in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. today. The two teams split a pair of regular season meetings.

Flathead 10 15 23 12 – 60

Bozeman 14 17 21 21 – 73

Flathead – Cooper Barrett 0-1 0-0 0, Bridger Johnson 2-4 1-2 5, Cole Gunderson 1-1 0-0 2, Tyler Johnson 8-12 7-7 26, Sam Elliott 4-12 4-6 12, Cade White 1-2 0-0 2, Eric Seaman 4-9 0-1, Anthony Jones 1-1 0-0 3, Dawson Smith 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 21-42 14-18 60.

Bozeman – Drew Huse 3-7 1-4 8, Callahan O’Reilly 4-8 3-3 12, Bailey Harlin 7-9 5-7 25, Kyler Harrison 0-1 0-0 0, Morgan Hostetler 2-3 0-0 4, Mack Anderson 3-6 5-6 11, Lance McCutcheon 5-6 1-3 11, Kyler Ash 0-3 0-0 0, Ryan Lonergan 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-44 15-23 73.

3-point goals – Flathead 4-10 (T. Johnson 3-5, Jones 1-1), Bozeman 8-12 (Harlin 6-6, Huse 1-1, O’Reilly 1-2). Rebounds – Flathead 20 (T. Johnson 5), Bozeman 26 (O’Reilly 7, Anderson 7). Total fouls – Flathead 17, Bozeman 12. Fouled out – none.

Other First Round games

Sentinel 14 13 8 17 – 52

Skyview 7 15 10 22 – 54

MISSOULA Sentinel (11-11) – Mitch Reynolds 3-9 0-1 6, Danny McKittrick 0-0 0-0 0, Brayden Danzinger 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Beighle 8-16 6-6 26, Elias DeWaters 0-2 0-0 0, Ethan Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Will Mytty 4-14 2-5 12, Nic Luoma 0-2 0-0 0, Griffin Line 4-5 0-0 8. Totals: 19-50 8-12 52.

BILLINGS Skyview (16-3) – RayQuan Evans 2-5 10-12 14, Steven Fisher 7-15 3-4 19, Jerelle Big Hair 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Kinghorn 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Schmidt 1-3 4-4 7, Zharon Richmond 1-9 4-5 6, Logan DeHaven 1-7 6-7 8, Zach Schacht 0-2 0-2 0. Totals: 12-41 27-34 54.

3-point goals – Sentinel 6-14 (Beighle 4-7 Mytty 2-5), Skyview 3-13 (Fisher 2-4, Schmidt 1-3). Rebounds – Sentinel 28 (Beighle 5, Line 5), Skyview 34 (Evans 11). Total fouls – Sentinel 24, Skyview 16. Fouled out – McKittrick, Beighle.

Hellgate 10 14 10 11 – 45

Great Falls 10 10 16 21 – 57

Hellgate (15-6) – Landon Youbles 2-7 1-2 5, Derrius Collins 4-11 1-2 12, Dylan Holst 2-3 0-2 4, Kade Lunday 3-5 1-2 7, Bridger Deden 2-8 0-0 5, Rollie Worster 5-13 2-6 12.. Totals: 18-47 2-6 45.

Great Falls (15-7) – Hunter McKinney 0-1 0-0 0, Kendell Kynett 3-7 2-2 11, Blake Thelen 2-9 0-0 5, Kody Torgerson 2-6 4-5 10, Kellan Romsa 2-7 0-0 6, Kyler Winkler 2-4 0-1 4, Brendan Howard 7-13 7-10 21. Totals: 18-47 13-18 57.

3-point goals0 – Hellgate 7-17 (Collins 3-6, Worster 2-6, Lunday 1-2, Deden 1-3), Great Falls 8-28 (Kynett 3-7, Torgerson 2-3, Romas 2-6, Thelen 1-6). Rebounds – Hellgate 31 (Collins 6), Great Falls 29 (Winkler 6, Howard 6). Total fouls – Hellgate 16, Great Falls 11. Fouled out – none.

GIRLS

Bozeman 51, Glacier 47

GREAT FALLS — The Glacier girls tied top-seeded Bozeman with 1:29 to play, but couldn’t close out the Hawks, falling in the first round.

Wolfpack junior Anna Schrade hit a 3-pointer from the wing to tie Bozeman at 44-44, the fourth time Glacier had tied the Hawks in the game, and capped a 6-2 run that saw the Wolfpack surging into the final minutes of play.

Bozeman drew up the perfect answer out of a timeout, however, retaking the lead just seconds later. Glacier missed its own chance to tie and fell further behind as the Hawks sealed the game at the free-throw line.

“We were there,” Glacier coach Bill Sullivan said. “We had a chance to win it and couldn’t get over that hump. We needed a couple of stops in the end and we just didn’t get them.”

Glacier held tough with Bozeman the whole game, leading for most of the first quarter before a late rush gave the Hawks a 13-10 lead after eight minutes.

Glacier took another lead late in the second quarter, Kali Gulick nailing a jumper from the free-throw line to give the Wolfpack an 18-17 edge. Glacier went cold for the rest of the half, watching as a mid-range jumper put Bozeman back in front 19-18 at halftime.

The Wolfpack retook the lead on the first possession of the third quarter, and held the lead three different times in frame, but fell into scoring lapses each time. Glacier fell behind 33-28 late in the third but closed with a pair of buckets to cut the deficit back to one point entering the fourth.

Bozeman opened the fourth on a 5-0 run, only for Glacier to answer with a 6-1 run to narrow the score again. Glacier flirted with the lead until tying the game late on Schrade’s 3.

Another Schrade 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play cut the Bozeman lead to 49-47 but Glacier never got closer.

“We played well, Bozeman’s a great team,” Sullivan said. “They’ve got some shooters and certainly in the second half, more than the first, they got after it offensively. We let them have some good looks, which we shouldn’t have.

“Down the stretch, I thought defensively we played well. Their girl in the corner hits a great shot and we D’d it up pretty well. They’re a good team. They got it done.”

Schrade finished with a game-high 19 points and Nikki Krueger had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Amber Tarabochia led Bozeman with 17 points.

Glacier will play Billings Senior in a loser-out game at noon today. The Broncs lost to Helena High 37-29 in the first round.

Glacier 10 8 14 15 — 47

Bozeman 13 6 14 18 — 51

GLACIER — Ellie Stevens 1-4 1-4 3, McKenna Hulslander 0-1 0-0 0, Cadie Williams 0-4 0-0 0, Ahna Kreitinger 0-3 0-0 0, Nikki Krueger 6-14 2-4 15, Anna Schrade 6-12 4-4 19, Courtney Mitchell 1-1 0-0 2, Kali Gulick 4-7 0-1 8. Totals; 18-46 7-13 47.

BOZEMAN — Ayla Embry 0-5 4-7 4, Riana Rogers 3-8 2-2 9, Ashlyn Lewis 3-6 0-0 9, Elaine Chandler 2-7 0-0 4, Amber Tarabochia 4-10 8-9 17, Alex Carey 1-5 3-4 6, Ava Westphal 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 14-42 17-22 51.

3-point goals—Glacier 4-15 (Williams 0-2, Kreitinger 0-1, Krueger 1-5, Schrade 3-6, Gulick 0-1), Bozeman 6-15 (Rogers 1-5, Lewis 3-6, Tarabochia 1-1, Carey 1-3). Rebounds—Glacier 28 (Krueger 11), Bozeman 33 (Tarabochia 10). Total fouls—Glacier 13, Bozeman 16. Fouled out—none.

Senior 6 5 12 6 — 29

Helena 7 13 9 8 — 37

BILLINGS SENIOR — Mariah Linse 0-4 0-0 0, Kola Bad Bear 5-13 6-8 16, Samantha Bonenberger 0-4 0-0 0, Elizabeth LaRance 0-3 0-0 0, Courtney Bad Bear 0-2 0-0 0, Elle Ostermiller 1-4 0-0 3, Sydney Norwood 3-9 0-0 6, Brittanee Fisher 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 10-42 8-10 29.

HELENA — Sam Holman 1-2 0-0 2, Kendra Kloker 0-2 0-0 0, Hailey Crawford 3-6 0-0 8, Kamden Hilborn 4-9 6-12 14, Taelyr Krantz 4-6 0-5 8, Jessica Ellsworth 0-2 0-0 0, Jamie Pickens 1-7 3-4 5. Totals: 13-34 9-21 37.

3-point goals—Senior 1-16 (Linse 0-1, K. Bad Bear 0-4, Bonenberger 0-4, LaRance 0-1, C. Bad Bear 0-1, Ostermiller 1-4, Norwood 0-1), Helena 2-12 (Holman 0-1, Kloker 0-2, Crawford 2-5, Hilborn 0-2, Ellsworth 0-2). Rebounds—Senior 33 (K. Bad Bear 10), Helena 29 (Pickens 9). Total fouls—Senior 16, Helena 10. Fouled out—none.

Helena Capital 4 13 4 18 – 39

CMR 10 11 14 12 – 47

Capital (14-8) – Emily Kidder 1-4 0-0 2, Ayanna Syvrud 0-3 0-0 0, Megan Lindbo 2-6 4-4 9, Katie Culver 1-2 0-0 2, Kacie Gross 1-8 0-0 2, Taylor Sullivan 3-5 2-3 8, Shelby VanHemelryck 3-8 3-8 0-0 9, Sydney Sheridan 1-4 4-4 7. Totals: 12-42 10-11 39.

CMR (15-6) – Akasia Denton 4-7 2-3 13, Zuzu Rudio 0-1 0-0 9, Mady Skawinski 3-11 2-2 10, Tristin Achenbach 4-9 5-6 13, Sam Payne 0-1 0-0 0, Kayce Edwards 1-3 0-1 2, Addison Gardner 3-8 3-4 9, Kyra Willis 0-5 0-1 0. Totals: 15-45 12-17 47.

3-point goals – Capital 5-16 (VanHemelryck 3-8, Sheridan 1-1, Lindbo 1-2), CMR 5-16 (Denton 3-3, Skawinski 2-7). Rebounds – Capital 27 (Sullivan 11), CMR 30 (Achenbach 11). Total fouls – Capital 17, CMR 10. Fouled out – none.

Sentinel 16 13 10 11 – 50

West 4 2 10 13 – 29

Missoula Sentinel (20-1) – Lauryn Bingham 1-2 2-2 4, Emma Blakely 3-8 4-6 10, Grace Stayner 1-4 2-2 4, Kylie Frohlich 3-5 1-2 7, Jordyn Schweyen 5-8 0-0 12, Kayla Daily 3-6 1-2 8, Bronwyn McCormick 2-6 1-1 5, Cheyenne Deden 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-41 11-15 50.

billings West (13-7) – Shea Dolan 0-2 0-0 0, Raquel Jimenez 3-4 0-2 6, Brianna Shirley 2-9 1-2 5, Kelly Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Ambreya Windy Boy 3-8 0-2 8, Taylor Kappel 0-1 0-0 0, Shayla Montague 2-7 1-2 7, Meagan Brown 1-2 0-0 3, Becca Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Rux 0-1 0-0 0, Aliyah Holton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 11-37 2-8 29.

3-point goals – Sentinel 3-9 (Schweyen 2-3, Daily 1-1), West 5-14 (Montague 2-3, Windy Boy 2-6, Brown 1-2). Rebounds – Sentinel 32 (Frohlich 11), West 18 (Montague 5). Total fouls – Sentinel 9, West 11. Fouled out – none.