Wolfpack bounce Braves from Western AA
BUTTE — Glacier’s Liam Ells hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points, and the Wolfpack beat crosstown rival Flathead 63-38 Friday morning at the Western AA boys basketball divisional.
Ells went 7 of 12 from the floor and Glacier (10-10) scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back.
The loser-out win puts the Wolfpack one victory away from making the State AA tournament next week in Missoula. They’ll play Butte at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Butte Civic Center.
Missoula Sentinel beat Butte 64-63 in Friday’s late semifinal, on Lincoln Rogers’ 15-footer with 1.8 seconds left.
The Spartans will face Missoula Hellgate, which edged Helena Capital 41-38 in the other semifinal.
Capital fell into an 11 a.m. loser-out game at Butte High against Missoula Big Sky. The Eagles beat Helena 56-48 Friday morning to stay alive.
Glacier 63, Flathead 38
Easton Kauffman added 12 points and Cohen Kastelitz had eight points and eight rebounds for Glacier, which saw 11 of 12 players hit the scoring column.
The loss ended a tough season for Flathead (0-20). Korbin Eaton scored 10 points off the bench to lead the Braves. He also had three steals. Stephen Riley added nine points.
Glacier 10 22 15 16 - 63
Flathead 4 11 12 11 - 38
GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 3-7 1-4 8, Liam Ells 7-12 2-2 20, Easton Kauffman 5-8 2-2 12, Brantly Salmonsen 2-4 0-0 4, Noah Cummings 2-4 0-0 4, Luke Nikunen 0-1 1-2 1, Owen Henry 2-3 1-2 6, Joshua Eagleton 0-3 2-4 2, Gabe Christianson 0-1 0-0 0, Slate Burrington 0-2 1-1 1, Jackson Endresen 0-2 2-2 2, Ben Winters 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 22-49 13-21 63.
FLATHEAD — Lyric Ersland 1-8 0-0 2, Gabe Sims 1-3 0-3 2, David Moody 0-0 2-4 2, Jordan Griffin 0-6 2-2 2, Brodee Zahn 2-6 0-0 4, Dustyn Franchini-White 1-4 0-0 3, Stephen Riley 1-3 6-10 9, Korbin Eaton 2-6 4-6 10, Brody Thornsberry 2-2 0-2 4, Tyler Willaims 0-3 0-0 0, Noah Sonju 0-0 0-0 0, Gabriel St. Germain 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 10-43 14-27 38.
3-point goals — Glacier 6-16 (Ells 4-6, Henry 1-1, Kastelitz 1-3), Flathead 4-18 (Eaton 2-5, Riley 1-1, Franchini-White 1-2). Rebounds — Glacier 37 (Kastelitz 8, Salmonsen 5), Flathead 29 (Ersland 7, Sims 5). Fouls — Glacier 23, Flathead 22. Turnovers — Glacier 16, Flathead 20.
Big Sky 56, Helena 48
Calihan LaRance had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Big Sky (9-11), which never trailed and built a 43-34 lead through three quarters.
Jaxan Leiberg poured in 28 points for the Bengals, who ended up 9-11.
Hellgate 41, Capital 38
The Knights closed the game with a 6-0 run that took awhile: Dylan Almquist’s bucket with 4:03 left — his only points — had put Capital up 38-35.
Brody Schneider’s baby hook put Hellgate (18-2) back in front, 39-38 with 2:55 left. From there Capital had three chances to retake the lead but missed two shots and committed a turnover.
Colter Russell’s two free throws with 11.9 seconds left capped the scoring.
Easton Sant’s 13 points led Hellgate. Schneider had five points and five rebounds.
Kyler Meredith scored a game-high 17 points for Capital (7-13), and Cole Dawes added 11 with five rebounds.
Sentinel 64, Butte 63
Rogers’ shot from the elbow ruined a spirited comeback by the hometown Bulldogs, who trailed 45-31 at halftime and 54-47 going into the final quarter.
Hudson Luedtke’s two free throws with 3:13 left had Butte in front 58-57; his 3-pointer with 50 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a 63-62 lead.
Sentinel turned it over on its next possession but got a final look after the Bulldogs had a shot rattle out at the other end.
Rogers and Grady Walker had 24 points each for Sentinel (11-9), and Walker had seven rebounds.
Luedtke scored 23 for Butte, and Russo Batterman poured in 19.
The win clinched the sixth-seeded Spartans a spot at next week’s State AA tournament at Dahlberg Arena, in Sam Beighle’s first season as coach.
Western AA
Feb. 29-March 2, Butte Civic Center
(4 teams advance)
BOYS
Thursday
Missoula Hellgate 65, Flathead 31
Helena Capital 53, Glacier 44
Missoula Sentinel 62, Helena 52
Butte 65, Missoula Big Sky 56
Friday
Glacier 63, Flathead 38, loser out
Missoula Big Sky 56, Helena 48, lo
Missoula Hellgate 41, Helena Capital 38, semifinal
Missoula Sentinel 64, Butte 63, sf
Saturday
Game 9 — Helena Capital (7-13) vs. Missoula Big Sky (9-11), Butte High School, 11 a.m., winner to state
Game 10 — Glacier (10-10) vs. Butte (13-7), winner to state
(No consolation game)
Game 11 — Missoula Hellgate (18-2) vs. Missoula Sentinel (11-9), first