Team-first mentality pays off for Wolfpack in win over Butte

Glacier’s next man up mindset was on full display Friday night with nine different Wolfpack scorers chipping in to beat Butte 70-52 in Western AA basketball.

Junior forward Cohen Kastelitz had 10 first-half points and was the leading scorer for Glacier on the night with 14. Senior guard Adam Nikunen finished with 12 for the Pack while knocking down three 3-pointers.

“We ask them to pass up a good shot for a great shot and I thought they did that tonight,” Wolfpack coach Mark Harkins said. “They were very unselfish with the basketball and I think that will take them a long way.”

Glacier unleashed full-court pressure on Butte early and often to keep the Bulldogs off-balance and jump out to a 36-23 halftime lead.

Despite the double-digit lead at the break, Glacier came out aggressively in the second half and went on a 8-3 run in the first six minutes of the third quarter.

The Wolfpack pressure on defense never relented. A Ty Olsen 3-pointer around the 6:00 mark in the fourth pushed the Wolfpack lead to 59-39.

Glacier kept their starters in for the majority of the final period as the two teams endured a physical final eight minutes of play regardless of the Wolfpack’s comfortable lead.

Harkins knew his team had to keep up the intensity against the scrappy Bulldogs.

“Butte is a team that is scary, even when we played them there we were up 10-12 points and they came back and got us so you never feel comfortable playing a great team that can score so fast like they do,” Harkins said. “I thought the kids did a great job tonight playing four quarters, I thought their defense was great and I was pleased.”

Tyler McDonald finished with 10 for the Wolfpack and hit a late 3-pointer to make things 68-48 and all but seal the victory. Olsen finished with nine and Xavier Stout also had nine points on a trio of baskets from beyond the arc for the Pack.

Butte freshman Hudson Luedtke paced the Bulldogs with 14 points while going 9 of 11 from the free throw line. Tocher Lee was next up for Butte with 11.

Butte 8 15 10 19 – 52

Glacier 21 15 14 20 – 70

BUTTE — Hudson Luedtke 14, Tocher Lee 11, Jace Stenson 7, Casey Merrifield 7, Cameron Gurnsey 6, Bo Demarais 3, Jonas Sherman 2, Dylan Bache 2.

GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 14, Adam Nikunen 12, Tyler McDonald 10, Ty Olsen 9, Xavier Stout 9, Kadrian Buls 8, Noah Dowler 4, Carson Gulick 2, Wyatt Cox 2.