Wolfpack beats Helena, sets eyes on Western AA Title

The Glacier Wolfpack won a hard-fought battle with Helena 48-41 Friday night to clinch a spot in the Western AA divisional title game.

Glacier’s Cohen Kastelitz was a force on the glass finishing with 18 rebounds to go with a team leading 13 points.

Helena’s Jaxan Lieberg hit a 3-pointer in the game’s first 20 seconds to give Helena a 3-0 lead but Kadrian Buls would respond with a 3-pointer of his own to even the score and from there the Wolfpack would never trail again.

Glacier unleashed full-court pressure on defense from the opening tip and never relented with their high intensity approach on that side of the ball.

“We won the game with our defense, really proud of our defensive effort,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “Both teams played so intense, so hard, Helena is a quality team.”

It was a three-point game at the half with Glacier leading 24-21. Kastelitz grabbed one of his nine offensive rebounds and made a put-back to start the scoring after break and followed that up by snatching another offensive board on the following possession to set up another putback and make it 28-21.

Lieberg responded with a 3-pointer but Glacier’s Adam Nikunen retaliated with a trey of his own to make things 31-24 Wolfpack with 4:22 to play in the third.

“Kids hit big shots,” said Harkins.

The Wolfpack managed to hold a steady lead from there and pushed the score to 42-32 with 3:45 left in the game. Helena would then respond with a Tevin Wetzel 3-pointer and Lieberg made a crafty layup at the rim to make it 42-37 with 2:01 to play.

Glacier fought off the Bengals rally by knocking down clutch free throws in the final two minutes with Ty Olsen sinking a pair with 41.5 seconds remaining to make things 46-39 Glacier and seal the victory.

Lieberg paced Helena with 13 points despite the Wolfpack rarely giving him room to operate.

Glacier will meet Missoula Hellgate Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Western AA divisional title game at the Flathead High gym.

Glacier 13 11 11 13 48

Helena 9 12 7 13 41

GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 6-8 1-5 13, Kadrian Buls 3-9 2-4 11, Ty Olsen 3-11 1-2 9, Tyler McDonald 3-6 0-1 6, Adam Nikunen 2-5 1-3 5, Travys Agan 1-3 0-0 3, Carson Gulick 0-1 1-1 1. Totals 18-46 6-17 48.

HELENA — Jaxan Lieberg 5-13 1-1 13, Dylan Christman 4-9 1-2 9, Tevin Wetzel 2-7 1-1 7, Dylan Mosness 1-1 5-6 7, Cael Murgel 1-5 2-4 4, Colter Petre 0-2 1-1 1. Totals 13-39 12-19 41.

3-Point goals — Glacier 6-16 (Buls 3-6.) Helena 3-16 (Lieberg 2-4.) Rebounds — Glacier 31 (Kastelitz 18.) Helena 21 (Four tied with 4.) Fouls — Glacier 20, Helena 18. Blocks — Glacier 2 (Nikunen, Agan.) Helena 3 (Murgel 2.). Steals — Glacier 1 (Kastelitz.) Helena 3 (Christman 2.) Turnovers — Glacier 12, Helena 11.

Hellgate 55, Capital 40

Hellgate's Connor Dick threw down a pair of monster slam dunks as the Knights knocked off the Capital Bruins 55-40 in the Western AA semifinal Friday night. Dick finished with 21 points and Easton Sant chipped in 16 points while shooting 4-7 from beyond the arch.

Hellgate led 28-13 at the break and held the Bruins in check down the stretch.

Sant's layup after a Hellgate steal with 5:15 to make things 47-27.

Joey Michelotti finished with nine points while shooting 3-7 from deep to lead the Capital scorers on the night.

Hellgate moves on to the Western AA championship game 8 p.m. Saturday night and Capital has a loser out game against Big Sky at 9:30 a.m in the Boyle Gym at Flathead High.

Hellgate 13 15 11 16 55

Capital 5 8 13 14 40

HELLGATE — Connor Dick 9-12 0-3 21, Easton Santa 5-11 2-2 16, Chance McNulty 2-4 0-0 5, Asher Topp 1-5 0-0 3, Mario Rosemond 0-1 3-6 3,

Calijah Larance 1-2 0-0 3, Donovyn Headswift 1-5 0-0 2, Leo Filardi 1-1 0-1 2. Totals - 20-41 8-14 55.

CAPITAL — Joey Michelotti 3-9 0-0 9, Henry Gross 1-3 5-5 7, Hudsen Grovom 2-6 1-4 6, Hayden Opitz 1-4 0-2 4, Nick Michelotti 1-6 1-3 4, Luke Dowdy 2-3 0-0 4, Austin Buehler 1-1 1-3 3, Tyler Kovick 1-3 0-0 2, Cole Dawes 0-0 1-2 1. Totals — 12-36 11-18 40.

3-Point goals — Hellgate 7-16 (Sant 4-7.) Capital 5-14 (J. Michelotti 3-7). Rebounds — Hellgate 21 (Headswift 10), Capital 22 (Gross 4, Kovick 4). Fouls — Hellgate 16, Capital 14. Blocks — Hellgate 2 (Topp, Rosemond), Capital 3 (Gross 2). Steals — Hellgate 6 (Sant 3), Capital 5 (J. Michelotti 2, Gross 2). Turnovers — Hellgate 8, Capital 12.