Big Knights hold down Wolfpack

A year removed from having two Division I recruits dominating play, the Missoula Hellgate Knights showed up at Glacier High and were still big and still good.

Beckett Arthur scored 20 points in a 54-40 win that moved Hellgate’s record to 7-2. Cayve LaRance added 10 and the Knights used a combination of zones and trapping defenses to hold the Wolfpack (3-7) down in the second half.

“They were missing one of their best kids, too (Josh Wade),” Glacier coach Mark Harkins noted. “That’s a good basketball team, Hellgate.”

Wade, who had 13 points in a 48-34 win over Flathead Thursday, sat out with an unspecified injury. The Knights, unbeaten last year with Rollie Worster (now at Utah State) and 6-foot-8 Abe Johnson (Army), came out in a 1-2-2 zone, switched to a 1-3-1 after Kiefer Spohnhauer bombed in a couple first-half threes, and then began to trap in the half-court.

The 6-2 Arthur, 6-5 Griffin Kinch and 6-4 Brogan Callaghan jammed the passing lanes, and Arthur capped an 8-0 run in the final 1:35 of the first half that gave Hellgate the lead for good. LaRance scored first, before Ian Finch and Arthur hit threes. Arthur’s just beat the halftime buzzer and put the Knights up 26-22.

Another 7-0 spurt in the third quarter put Hellgate in command. Spohnhauer’s steal and layup, while getting fouled, had cut the gap to 34-30; he missed the free throw and Dre Bowie answered for the Knights at the 2:43 mark.

Bowie drove again the next time down, missed, rebounded and Arthur ended up with a 3-pointer. Glacier called time, but then turned the ball over a couple seconds later.

That led to two Callaghan free throws and a 41-30 Hellgate lead at the 1:50 mark. Glacier came no closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“We kind of saw the same thing in Butte (a 60-52 loss on Thursday) and it’s something we’ve got to solve,” Harkins said. “Letting them score in spurts. It’s not just missing one possession, we miss three or four, or turn the ball over three or four times in a row and allow teams to go on runs.

“That’s our biggest thing we’ve got to fix. Stopping runs and being able to score when we need to score.”

Spohnhauer led the Pack with 10 points. Jaxson Olsen, working among taller timber, added nine, as did Weston Price.

“I thought Keifer played great, especially that first half,” Harkins said. “He was very aggressive with his shot and that’s what we need him to do. He needs to be a scorer for us.”

Glacier’s next game is a makeup against Butte High, Monday at 4 p.m. at the Wolf Den. The Pack will be looking to snap a three-game skid.

“The kids battled,” Harkins said. “We missed shots. But no one can ever question our effort.”

Hellgate 13 13 15 13 - 54

Glacier 12 10 11 7 - 40

MISSOULA HELLGATE - Zach Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Beckett Arthur 7-11 4-6 20, Griffin Kinch 2-5 2-2 7, Cayve LaRance 5-11 0-1 10, Dre Bowie 3-7 0-0 8, Brogan Callaghan 2-5 2-2 6, Ian Finch 1-2 0-0 3, Tommy Nilson 0-1 0-0 0, Leo Filardi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 8-11 54.

GLACIER - Jaxson Olsen 4-8 1-2 9, Weston Price 3-10 2-2 9, Noah Dowler 2-3 0-1 4, Will Salonen 1-2 0--0 3, Kiefer Spohnhauer 4-7 0-1 10, Connor Sullivan 1-3 0-0 3, Tyler Hausmann 0-0 0-0 0, JT Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Collin Presnell 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Bilau 0-1 0-0 0, Ty Olsen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-35 3-6 40.

3-point goals - Hellgate 6-11 (Bowie 2-2, Arthur 2-3, Finch 1-1, Kinch 1-2, LaRance 0-3), Hellgate 5-17 (Spohnhauer 2-3, Salonen 1-2, Sullivan 1-3, Price 1-7, J. Olsen 0-1, Bilau 0-1). Rebounds - Hellgate 24 (Arthur 5), Glacier 22 (J. Olsen 6, Dowler 5). Fouls - Hellgate xx, Glacier xx. Fouled out - none. Steals - Hellgate 12 (LaRance 3), Glacier 2 (Spohnhauer, Bilau). Blocks - Glacier 1 (Dowler). Turnovers - Hellgate 8, Glacier 16.