Use rebounding and transition game to dominate

The inaugural showdown between the Flathead and Glacier high school boys' basketball teams was essentially over in the second quarter.

A packed Glacier High School gym worth $375 in split-the-pot winnings saw Flathead's 6-foot-8 junior Brock Osweiler register 28 points, 23 rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists, two 3-pointers and two slam dunks to help lead the Braves to an 81-51 Western AA victory over the Wolfpack.

Trailing 10-9 after Glacier's 6-4 sophomore Shay Smithwick-Hann hit an NBA-range 3-pointer halfway through the first quarter, the Braves responded with an 11-0 run and never looked back.

The Wolfpack made two straight buckets to start the second quarter to get as close as eight points, but the Braves outscored them 20-3 going into halftime. Senior Colton Hoffenbacker made two 3-pointers in a span of a minute in that run.

The decisive Flathead runs came on the strengths of its rebounding and transition game as Glacier made just one of nine shots from inside in the first quarter - which is when Osweiler had nine of his rebounds. The Wolfpack continued their shooting woes in the second quarter, making just one of 10 free throws - which led to more of Flathead's transition game.

"Flathead gets out in the transition so well," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. "That's what gets them rolling. They'll play with you and play with you and then they'll go on a run and, shoot, they do that so darn well."

The Braves tallied 19 assists in the sometimes furious action. Junior point guard Danny Salois matched Osweiler with four assists. Senior wing Connor Cavigli scored eight of his 13 points in the first half, while getting two steals and two assists.

"We started getting up and down the floor and getting some defensive stops," Cavigli said. "Then Brock got that dunk to put us up by 10 and then everyone fed off that."

Eleven players scored points for the Braves. Senior forward Charlie Dotson had eight points and eight rebound. Senior guard Michael Gallagher added seven points. Josh Harris and Austin Roehl each had five points.

"We went deep into the bench and the kids coming off it made great contributions," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "In particular, Charlie Dotson, Michael Gallagher, Colton Hoffenbacker. When you've got kids that can come off the bench and contribute and not only maintain the lead but actually increase the lead - that says you've got a pretty good ball club.

"We just need to take it on the road and do this."

The victory improved the Braves' record to 2-3 in conference and 10-3 overall. It was their sixth-straight road game. They've gone 4-2 in that span.

Technically, it wasn't so much a road game and needless to say, the atmosphere was intense.

"The atmosphere was pretty intense," Cavigli said. "It felt like it was a lot closer game than it really was. That Sentinel game where it was tense and close… It was like that except when I looked up at the scoreboard, we were up by 15 or so."

The Braves out-rebounded the Wolfpack, 57-35, and made 48 percent of their shots. Glacier made just 32 percent of its shots.

Junior guard Ben Cutler led the way for the Wolfpack with 16 points and three steals. Smithwick-Hann finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Seven other Glacier players scored points, which gave the hometown crowd a total of 18 of their boys netting points and 22 getting playing time.

"Wow, what a great crowd on both sides," said Harkins, who was Febach's junior varsity coach last year at Flathead. "The community of Kalispell has got to love what they saw.

"You never want to lose, but those are such good guys and I loved watching all the kids talking out there. They were laughing at each other and playing - that's pretty cool."

In the other locker room, Febach expressed nothing but gratitude for getting to see his former players playing.

"It was definitely special and they did a great job, just like I knew they would," Febach said.

Glacier came out in a 1-3-1 defense, which allowed the Wolfpack to front Osweiler while getting back-side help on him, and gave the Braves fits on offense.

"They came out with a great game plan," Febach said. "Coach Harkins did a great job switching up his defenses between man and zone and it took us a while to figure out how to attack them."

The Wolfpack dropped to 3-10 on the season. They play at Missoula Big Sky next Friday.

Flathead is back in action today at home at 4:30 p.m. against Missoula Hellgate.

Flathead 20 22 25 14 - 81

Glacier 11 14 16 10 - 51

FLATHEAD (2-3, 10-3) - Jake Thiesen 1-6 0-0 2, Dan Salois 1-2 0-2 2, Brock Osweiler 10-22 6-8 28, Josh Harris 2-4 1-5 5, Austin Roehl 2-3 1-3 5, Michael Gallagher 2-3 2-3 7, Colton Hoffenbacker 2-6 0-0 6, Sam Tedrow 1-1 1-2 3, Charlie Dotson 2-6 0-0 6, Connor Cavigli 6-9 1-2 13, Cody Bouley 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Andrews 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-63 16-29 81.

GLACIER (0-5, 3-10) - Josh Doty 0-3 1-4 1, Conner Fuller 2-6 1-2 5, Grahm Schmaltz 0-1 2-2 2, George Werk 0-1 0-0 0, Shay Smithwick-Hann 6-16 1-4 13, Logan Quay 1-3 0-1 2, Kramer Wilson 1-3 0-0 2, Mike Rasmussen 2-3 0-6 4, Ben Cutler 5-15 4-11 16, Bryan Chery 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Grosswiler 0-1 0-0 0, Ben Sansaver 2-7 2-6 6. Totals 19-60 10-35 51.

3-point goals - Flt. 5-14 (Osweiler 2-2, Hoffenbacker 2-5, Gallagher 1-1), Gla. 3-11 (Cutler 2-4, Smithwick-Hann 1-4). Rebounds - Flt. 57 (Osweiler 23, Dotson 9, team 7, Salois 5, Harris 3, Roehl 3, Cavigli 3, Hoffenbacker 2, Thiesen, Bouley), Gla. 35 (Smithwick-Hann 8, Rasmussen 5, Quay 4, Fuller 2, team 2, Doty, Fuller, Werk, Wilson, Cutler, Sansaver). Assists - Flt. 19 (Salois 4, Osweiler 4, Thiesen 3, Gallagher 2, Dotson 2, Cavigli 2, Roehl, Hoffenbacker), Gla. 4 (Fuller, Smithwick-Hann, Rasmussen, Grosswiler). Steals - Flt. 9 (Thiesen 2, Tedrow 2, Cavigli, Roehl, Gallagher), Gla. 11 (Grosswiler 3, Cutler 3, Rasmussen 2, Fuller, Wilson, Cutler). Blocks - Flt. 6 (Osweiler 4, Roehl, Cavigli), Gla. 1 (Smithwick-Hann). Turnovers - Flt. 18, Gla. 14. Total fouls - Flt. 25, Gla. 25. Fouled out - Rasmussen, Harris. Technical - Osweiler.