Glacier boys fall just short of Falcons

BILLINGS — An early deficit had Glacier’s boys playing catch up all game Thursday — and they almost caught up.

Defending champion Billings Skyview had to weather a late charge by the Wolfpack before taking the 51-46 State AA basketball win at First Interstate Arena. Payton Sanders scored 20 points for the Falcons, including three late free throws to nail down the win.

Noah Dowler had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Glacier (10-13), which fell into a loser-out game against Gallatin Friday at noon. The Raptors (12-11) fell to Helena Capital 51-41 in Thursday’s other early game.

Skview (14-8) and Capital (21-2) will battle in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal.

Skyview 51, Glacier 46

Down 44-34, the Wolfpack roared back starting with a Will Salonen 3-pointer with 1:50 left. Two Ty Olsen free throws cut the gap to 44-39, and with 1:10 remaining Connor Sullivan knocked down another three.

From there the Falcons went 7-for-8 at the line. But holding a 49-46 lead, they committed a turnover under Glacier’s basket, setting up one last Glacier chance. A game-tying 3-pointer by Salonen fell away and Sanders knocked down two free throws with :03 left.

“We got down early; that was our problem,” said Glacier coach Mark Harkins, whose club trailed 16-9 after one quarter. “We got down early in the first quarter and had to battle back.”

Glacier’s stat crew had Dowler for 17 points and four blocks.

“had a great game. He had a huge game,” Harkins said of the 6-foot-7 junior.

Olsen added 10 points despite missing ample time with a cut above his upper lip, Harkins said.

“We had an opportunity at the end. We had a good look, Will had it, and just left it short,” the coach added. “I’m just proud of the way the kids battled. They could have folded.”

Kyson Wagner had nine points for Glacier. Salonen and Tyler McDonald had five rebounds each to help the Pack to a 32-20 bulge on the boards.

For Skyview, Lane Love had 14 points and Anthony Schact had 10.

Glacier edged Gallatin 56-55 in a December matchup on the Wolfpack’s home floor.

First round

Glacier 9 11 13 13 - 46

Skyview 16 13 9 13 - 51

GLACIER — Nolan Hyde 0-0 0-0 0, Will Salonen 1-5 0-0 3, Noah Dowler 7-10 1-2 15, Connor Sullivan 2-8 0-0 5, Ty Olsen 3-7 4-4 10, Tyler McDonald 1-3 1-2 4, Kyson Wagner 3-7 3-4 9, Cohen Kastelitz 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 9-12 46.

BILLINGS SKYVIEW — Lane Love 3-9 7-8 14, Rhese Owens 1-6 0-0 2, Anthony Schacht 4-4 2-5 10, Payton Sanders 6-12 4-6 20, Lance Schaaf 1-6 0-0 2, Kyler Mikkelson 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Schaaf 1-2 0-0 3, Kaiden Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-39 13-19 51.

3-point goals — glacier 3-14 (McDonald 1-3, Sullivan 1-5, Sullivan 1-4, Olsen 0-1), Skyview 6-17 (Sanders 4-17, Love 1-2, A.Schaaf 1-2, L.Schaaf 0-3, Owens 0-3). Rebounds — Glacier 32 (Dowler 11), Skyview 20 (Schacht 7). Fouls — Glacier 19, Skyview 11. Blocks 1 — Glacier 2 (Wagner, Turner), Skyview 2 (Love, Schacht). Steals — Glacier 5 (Salonen 3), Skyview 8 (Owens 3). Turnovers — Glacier 19, Skyview 10.

Capital 51, Gallatin 41

Capital rode 25 points from Brayden Koch to the win.

The Raptors pushed out to a 17-13 led after one quarter, but Koch had a dunk at the end of the first half to tie it, and another to put the Bruins up 39-33 with 3:35 left.

Nick Michelotti added eight points for Capital. Koch also had 11 rebounds and a blocked shot.

Gallatin was led by Jake Vigen’s 13 points and six rebounds. Eli Hunter added 10 points and six boards.