Glacier, Flathead boys lose; play each other Friday morning

HELENA — This isn’t the crosstown they wanted.

Flathead and Glacier will battle for a third time this season at 9:30 a.m. Friday, after both lost first-round games at the Western AA boys basketball divisional Thursday at Carroll College.

“It’s going to be crazy,” said Glacier coach Mark Harkins, whose Wolfpack fell to Helena High 61-54, just after Flathead lost to top-seeded Helena Capital 57-43. “I’ve always loved crosstown, but not in these situations, not in a loser-out game. It’s scary.

“But that’s where we’re at and we’ve got to come back tomorrow and be ready to go.”

Helena 61, Glacier 54

Kaden Huot scored 13 points to lead the Bengals (7-12), who sprinted ahead just before halftime, then rode a couple timely second-half threes to the win.

The Wolfpack (7-12) shot the ball well and led 20-19 on Connor Sullivan’s 3-pointer at 5:25 of the second quarter.

Helena scored the next 11 points, starting with a put-back and a 3-pointer from Huot. Cael Murgel’s two free throws made it 31-20, before Kyson Wagner scored for Glacier to stem the run.

Down 45-36 after three quarters, the Pack closed to 46-43 on seven straight points from Tyler McDonald. Helena had the answer with a Trevin Wetzel 3-pointer at the 6:10 mark. After Ty Olsen drove for a layup to bring Glacier to 49-47, Colter Petre hit another three for Helena with 3:23 left.

Back-to-back baskets by Will Salonen got Glacier in range one more time, 56-53, but the Bengals went 5-for-6 at the line in the final minute.

“They did what they had to do, to win,” Harkins said of the Bengals. “Credit them for responding when we tried to make a run on them.

“We had some guys come off the bench and do really good jobs for us. Tyler McDonald was great. I was really happy with Kastelitz coming in and giving us great minutes.”

Olsen scored a game-high 17 for Glacier. McDonald was next with nine, and Wagner added seven off the bench.

Petre added 12 points for Helena, which plays Capital (19-2) in the 3:30 p.m. semifinal.

First round

Helena 17 13 15 16 - 61

Glacier 13 9 14 18 - 54

HELENA HIGH — Kaden Huot 3-9 6-6 13, Kade Schlepp 2-3 0-2 4, Cael Murgel 2-7 2-2 7, Trevin Wetzel 3-5 0-0 8, Colter Petre 3-6 4-6 12, Dylan Christman 4-9 1-2 9, Jaxan Leiberg 3-5 2-3 8. Totals 20-44 13-18 61.

GLACIER — Nolan Hyde 0-0 0-0 0, Will Salonen 4-10 0-1 8, Noah Dowler 2-3 0-0 4, Connor Sullivan 2-6 1-2 7, Ty Olsen 7-11 3-7 17, Tyler McDonald 4-6 0-0 9, Kysen Wagner 2-5 3-4 7, Xavier Stout 0-0 0-0 0, Cohen Kastelitz 1-2 0-0 2, Jake Turner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-44 7-14 54.

3-point goals — Helena 8-20 (Leiberg 2-3, Wetzel 2-4, Petre 2-4, Murgel 1-4, Huot 1-4), Glacier 3-12 (Sullivan 2-6, McDonald 1-1, Olsen 0-1, Kastelitz 0-1, RTurner 0-1, Salonen 0-2). Rebounds — Helena 23 (Christman 7), Glacier 29 (Dowler 6). Fouls — Helena12, Glacier 16. Fouled out — Sullivan. Assists — Helena 12 (Schelpp 4, Murgel 4), Glacier 6 (Olsen 3). Steals — Helena 7 (Schlepp 3), Glacier 1 (Hyde). Turnovers — Helen 4, Glacier 9.

Capital 57, Flathead 43

Similar to Helena, the Bruins used a late second-quarter surge to build a lead.

When Flathead’s Joston Cripe hit two free throws, the Braves trailed just 18-16 at the 4:01 mark. Capital closed the half on an 11-1 run, starting with a Hayden Opitz basket and ending with a Brayden Koch three.

Flathead trailed 29-17 at halftime, and 45-26 when Capital’s Nick Michelotti hit a free throw at 6:28 of the fourth quarter.

Braves coach Dirk Johnsrud bemoaned Capital’s 35-25 edge in rebounds (his stats had it 31-18).

“Very physical,” Johnsrud said of the Bruins. “That was something we couldn’t allow to happen.

“I was proud of our kids and how we battled. In the end our shooting percentage (under 30 percent) wasn’t good enough.”

A tough morning got worse when Cripe, who didn’t play until January on his repaired right ACL, went down clutching the same knee with 5:03 left in the game.

“We’re not 100 percent sure what it is,” Johnsrud said. “We’re hoping for the best.”

Cripe had 11 points. Opitz had a game-high 14 for Capital, leading four players in double figures.

Glacier swept the regular-season series with Flathead (4-15).

“We’re going to have to be ready to go, be able to defend well and shoot a higher percentage,” Johnsrud said. “We need to stay out of foul trouble.”

First round

Flathead 9 8 9 17 - 43

Capital 12 17 12 16 - 57

FLATHEAD — Gavin Chouinard 2-5 1-2 7, Luca Zoeller 2-9 2-2 6, Joseph Hansen 0-2 2-2 2, Joston Cripe 3-13 4-4 11, Drew Lowry 1-4 1-2 4, Noah Cummings 1-3 2-5 4, Brody Thornsberry 1-2 0-0 3, Lyric Ersland 2-3 0-1 5, Gabriel Sims 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 12-41 13-20 43.

HELENA CAPITAL — Luke Dowdy 2-6 6-7 10, Trysten Mooney 2-5 0-0 4, Hayden Opitz 6-11 2-4 14, Jacob Curry 1-7 2-2 4, Brayden Koch 4-9 0-0 10, Nick Michelotti 2-3 6-10 10, Tyler Kovick 0-1 0-0, Jamey Michelotti 2-2 0-0 4, Joey Michelotti 0-0 1-2 1, Hudson Grovom 0-0 00 0, Austin Buehler 0-0 0-0 0, Henry Gross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-44 17-25 57.

3-point goals — Flathead 6y-21 (Chouinard 2-4, Lowry 1-4, Thornsberry 1-1, Ersland 1-1, Cripe 1-7), Capital 2-11 (Koch 2-4, Mooney 0-3, Curry 0-4). Rebounds — Flathead 25 (Hansen 6), Capital 35 (Dowdy 8). Fouls — Flathead 20, Capital 17. Fouled out — Hansen. Steals — Flathead 10 (Chouinard 3, Cripe 3), Capital 12 (Curry 3). Turnovers — Flathead 16, Capital 15.