Hot-shooting Wolfpack hits 70, back-to-back

With a defense that is noticeably sturdy, the Glacier Wolfpack’s recipe for victory could be this simple: Score, and you win.

They scored big this weekend, with a 76-42 win over Missoula Sentinel Saturday marking their third 70-point outing in five games, all wins. That includes Friday’s 72-50 thumping of Butte.

“It was good to get those two wins in the conference race,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said after his club improved to 8-5, and 5-4 in Western AA games. “But even moreso, it was good just to play well, and play well offensively. The kids I thought had a great weekend sharing the basketball — being unselfish and finding the open guy.”

Every Glacier player but one scored Saturday, led by Xavier Stout, who came off the bench to hit all four of his 3-point attempts on the way to 16 first-half points.

By then the Pack led the Spartans (2-11, 1-8 in league) 47-25.

“Xavier is playing with a ton of confidence right now, and it’s fun to see,” Harkins said. “He’s shooting the ball great.”

Stout finished with 17 points, leading four Glacier players in double figures. The hosts ended up shooting 64 percent (25 of 39) from the floor, and 7 of 10 from the arc.

It started with Tyler McDonald driving in for two points, then Cohen Kastelitz hitting a 12-footer from the high post. Then McDonald, Ty Olsen and Kastelitz hit back-to-back threes, and it was quickly 13-4. Stout’s second three put Glacier up 26-10 going to the second quarter.

While McDonald added 12 points and fellow guard Olsen 11, 6-foot-7 Noah Dowler (10 points) got his touches alongside Kastelitz. Stout was just one beneficiary of many of the Pack’s inside-out ball movement.

“We shot the ball this weekend pretty good, but it still has to go inside first,” Harkins said. “It just opens things up.”

Sentinel couldn’t keep pace, though Blake Taft scored 10 points. Eli Iverson had seven points and four rebounds off the bench for the Spartans.

Dowler had seven rebounds and Carson Gulick grabbed six for Glacier, which is on the road to Helena next week. The Pack plays at Helena High Friday — the Bengals fell out of first place with a 51-28 loss at Missoula Hellgate Saturday — and then Helena Capital the next day.

Sentinel 10 15 5 12 - 42

Glacier 26 21 13 16 - 76

MISSOULA SENTINEL — Trevor Rausch 1-2 1-2 3, Patrick Sale 2-5 2-2 6, Holter Schweyen 1-3 0-0 3, Riley Allen 2-4 2-2 6, Brady Rupert 0-3 0-0 0, Blake Taft 3-6 2-2 10, Evan Richardston 1-7 0-0 2, Eli Iverson 2-3 3-11 7, Kade McDonough 1-7 2-3 5, Skyler Challmers 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Krueger 0-1 0-3 0, Vincent Lincoln 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-42 12-25 42.

GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 3-8 1-1 7, Tyler McDonald 4-6 3-6 2, Noah Dowler 3-4 4-5 10, Adam Nikunen 0-0 0-0 0, Ty Olsen 4-6 2-4 11, Kaidrian Buls 2-2 0-0 5, Travys Agan 3-4 1-1 7, Xavier Stout 6-6 1-2 17, Wyatt Cox 0-3 2-2 2, Carson Gulick 0-0 2-4 2, Alex Hausmann 0-0 1-4 1, Ben Winters 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 25-39 19-31 76.

3-point goals — Sentinel 4-22 (Taft 2-5, McDonough 1-6, Schweyen 1-1, Rausch 0-1, Allen 0-2, Richardson 0-4, Rupert 0-2, Krueger 0-1), Glacier 7-10 (Stout 4-4, Olsen 1-2, McDonald 1-1, Bulls 1-1, Cox 0-2). Rebounds — Sentinel 26 (Iverson 4), Glacier 29 (Dowler 7, Gulick 6).

Fouls — Sentinel 25, Glacier 22. Steals — Sentinel 2 (Schweyen, Iverson), Glacier 8 (Kastelitz 3, McDonald 3). Turnovers — Sentinel 12, Glacier 7.