Western AA boys: Glacier falls to Hellgate; Flathead eliminated
MISSOULA — One’s a juggernaut, the other a steady shot, and the Kalispell schools didn’t handle either in Friday’s action at the Western AA Divisional boys’ basketball tournament.
Glacier fell to unbeaten Missoula Hellgate 81-54 in the day’s first semifinal, and Flathead lost another tight game to Butte, 69-64, in loser-out action at Sentinel High School.
Hellgate (20-0) advanced to today’s 6 p.m. semifinal against Helena Capital (16-4). The Bruins beat Missoula Sentinel 71-54 in the late semifinal.
Glacier (10-10) takes on Butte (7-13) in a loser-out at 9 a.m. at Missoula Hellgate; the winner will advance to the consolation game and to the State AA tournament, since the top four placers move on.
Flathead ended up 3-17. In Friday’s first game, Missoula Big Sky held Helena scoreless in the third quarter of a 46-37 win – the Eagles’ third of the season. The Eagles will face Sentinel at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Sentinel gym.
Helena High ended up 7-13.
Missoula Hellgate 81, Glacier 54
The good news is that Glacier handled the Knights’ full-court pressure and scored more points than any Hellgate opponent this season.
The bad news is the Knights shot 67 percent (30 for 45) from the floor.
The statistic includes five dunks – four by 6-foot-8 Army signee Abe Johnson, who had 18 points, and one by Beckett Arthur. Arthur’s jam put Hellgate up 33-22 at halftime.
Glacier had its issues on the boards, but the Wolfpack found and hit open threes – 10 in all. Anthony Heath (16 points) and Jaxson Olsen (12) hit three each.
That the gap kept expanding is a testament to Hellgate’s talent - including Utah State signee Rollie Worster, who had 26 points.
“There’s a reason they’re going to the schools they’re going to,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “I always say when I’m not coaching against them I love to watch them because they are great players.”
The gap grew to 49-29 on a Johnson bucket midway through the third quarter and 58-33 on two Worster free throws just before the period ended.
“Before the game, I said, ‘I want us to compete – I want us to play well.’ And I thought we did some good things today,” Harkins said. “I thought the kids competed pretty well. I thought they executed our defensive schemes pretty well at times, especially in the first half.
“There were a lot of positive things and going into tomorrow’s loser-out game I didn’t want to come out and play terribly. I thought they competed well.”
Drew Engellant added eight points and three boards for the Pack, which was outrebounded 29-14.
Glacier 11 11 16 16 - 54
Hellgate 18 15 25 23 - 81
GLACIER (10-10) – Drew Engellant 2 4-5 8, Keifer Spohnhauer 2 0-0 6, Weston Price 1 2-4 5, Anthony Heath 5 3-3 16, Michael Shwarz 0 0-0 0, JT Allen 0 0-0 0, Jaxson Olsen 4 1-2 12, Luke Bilau 0 2-2 2, Jonah Pate 1 0-0 3, Ethan Diede 0 2-2 2, Tyler Hausmann 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 14-22 54.
MISSOULA HELLGATE (20-0) – Cam LaRance 7 2-2 20, Kade McWilliams 1 0-0 3, Abe Johnson 8 2-5 18, Rollie Worster 8 10-11 26, Beckett Arthur 1 0-0 2, Brandon Coladonato 0 0-0 0, Josh Wade 3 0-0 7, Aidan Gilham 1 0-0 2, Griffin 1 0-0 2, Wes Salonen 0 0-0 0, Brogan Callaghan 0 1-2 1, Ian Finch 0 0-2 0. Totals 30 15-22 81.
3-point goals – Glacier 10 (Heath 3, Olsen 3, Spohnhauer 2, Pate, Price), Hellgate 6 (LaRance 4, McWilliams, Wade). Rebounds – Glacier 14 (Bilau 3, Engellant 3), Hellgate 29 (Johnson 10). Fouls – Glacier 20, Hellgate 19. Steals – Glacier 6 (Olsen 2, Allen 2), Hellgate 4 (4 with 1). Turnovers – Glacier 8, Hellgate 9.
Butte 69, Flathead 64
Flathead fought back from deficits of 17-8 and 45-33 but couldn’t hold down the Bulldogs, who hit 12 3-pointers and grabbed critical offensive rebounds.
The Braves’ last lead came at 28-26, when Ethan Vandenbosch hit back-to-back threes to cap a 16-6 surge at 4:37 of the second quarter. Butte answered with a put-back from Tommy Mellot and a 3-pointer from Mikey O’Dell.
The Bulldogs didn’t trail again but still had to put down a fourth-quarter surge by the Braves – including three 3-pointers by Joston Cripe and another from Vandenbosch.
Cripe’s three at the 2:50 mark cut the gap to 60-55 but Butte came up with two offensive rebounds at their end, and Cael Stenson scored to move the lead back to seven.
“Just a couple key times they missed they got the offensive rebound – or two offensive rebounds,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said. “And then got the put-back. We’d be down to four and that would move it back to six or seven. Those are just the breaks sometimes.”
Cripe’s fourth and final trey brought Flathead to 63-60 with 1:00 left, but Butte hit 6 of 10 free throws from there. Cripe, a sophomore, ended with 16 points. Vandenbosch, a junior, had a career game: 22 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Sophomore Hunter Hickey scored 17 points.
The trio combined for nine 3-pointers.
“I’m just very proud of our guys that we just kept fighting back and fighting back,” Gustafson said. “That showed a lot of character – sticking with it and battling to the end.”
Flathead 12 21 9 22 - 64
Butte 20 16 14 19 - 69
FLATHEAD (3-17) – Cooper Smith 1 1-1 3, Tannen Beyl 0 0-0 0, Gabe Adams 1 0-0 2, Hunter Hickey 6 3-3 17, Joston Cripe 5 2-2 16, Ethan Vandenbosch 8 3-7 22, Max Anderson 1 0-0 2, Ezra Epperly 1 0-0 2, Gatlin Bruner 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 9-13 64.
BUTTE (7-13) – Blake Drakos 3 8-11 16, Andrew Booth 4 0-0 12, Jake Olson 1 4-10 6, Tommy Mellot 2 2-4 6, Cael Stenson 3 1-3 7, Kenley Leary 2 0-0 5, Mikey O’Dell 2 2-2 8, Ryan Burt 1 0-0 2, Kaven Noctor 2 0-0 6. Totals 20 17-30 69.
3-point goals – Flathead 9 (Cripe 4, Vandenbosch 3, Hickey 2), Butte 12 (Booth 4, O’Dell 2, Noctor 2, Drakos 2, Stenson, Leary). Rebounds – Flathead 29 (Vandenbosch 8), Butte 33 (Olson 10). Fouls – Flathead 20, Butte 17. Fouled out – Adams. Steals – Flathead 13 (Vandenbosch 6, Butte 6 (Stenson 2). Turnovers – Flathead 20, Butte 16.
Western AA Divisional
Boys
Missoula Sentinel
Thursday
Missoula Hellgate 70, Missoula Big Sky 41
Glacier 42, Helena 35
Missoula Sentinel 65, Butte 48
Helena Capital 74, Flathead 40
Friday
Missoula Big Sky 46, Helena 37, loser out
Butte 69, Flathead 64, loser out
Missoula Hellgate 81, Glacier 54, semifinal
Helena Capital 71, Missoula Sentinel 57, semifinal
Saturday
9 a.m. – Missoula Big Sky (3-17) vs. Missoula Sentinel (15-5), loser out
9 a.m. – Butte (7-13) vs. Glacier (10-10), at Missoula Hellgate, loser out
3 p.m. – Morning winners, consolation
6 p.m. – Missoula Hellgate (20-0) vs. Helena Capital (16-4), championship