Western AA boys: Butte bounces Glacier in heartbreaker
MISSOULA — The Glacier boys didn’t figure on sitting out the State AA tournament but that’s what has happened – a hot-shooting bunch of Butte Bulldogs bounced them from Divisionals Saturday.
Blake Drakos hit three of Butte’s eight 3-pointers in a 62-48 Western AA loser-out win at the Missoula Hellgate gym. The Wolfpack, which ended up 10-11, made its hay with the 3-pointer this season but it was the Bulldogs who got the better looks.
It didn’t carry over to the evening – Butte lost the consolation game 71-55 to Missoula Sentinel – but it was too much in the morning.
“They shoot a lot,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “They’re a good team. They’re hot right now, they’re playing good basketball. We ran into them and couldn’t quite keep pace.”
Glacier never led, though a 3-pointer from Anthony Heath knotted it at 10-all early in the second quarter. Butte’s Jake Olson sandwiched low-post baskets around a drive by Tommy Mellott and it was quickly 16-10.
The Pack stayed in range but couldn’t get a meaningful run going. They did draw to 39-35 on a basket by Drew Engellant, who wheeled inside for a game-high 19 points, with 7:00 left.
Drakos answered with back-to-back threes, and after Weston Price scored for Glacier, Olson converted an old-fashioned three-point play. It was 48-37 with 5:02 left.
The lead grew to 53-39 when reserve Kavon Noctor knocked down Butte’s final three, with 3:00 remaining. Noctor had 11 points; Drakos had a team-high 14.
“They had a six-point cushion and we couldn’t quite get through it,” Harkins said. “I kept thinking we’d make a run, a big three or something like that. I thought Drew battled. He wanted to play another week, no question.”
Jaxson Olsen added eight points and Heath checked in with seven. Heath picked up some of the slack after guard KJ Johnson went down with an ankle injury; that coincided with a five-game losing streak that blunted the Pack’s 7-4 start to the season.
“We battled the injury bug this year and losing KJ really hurt us,” Harkins said. “Another great leader – a quiet leader.
“Credit to them because a month ago we were in a bad spot. They came together under the leadership of those kids, and we played pretty good basketball down the stretch, I thought. We did some good things. That’s something I’m really proud of those kids for doing.”
Glacier 7 9 14 18 - 48
Butte 10 12 16 24 - 62
GLACIER (10-11) – Drew Engellant 6 7-13 19, Weston Price 2 0-0 5, Keifer Spohnhauer 1 0-0 3, Anthony Heath 2 2-2 7, Michael Schwarz 2 0-0 6, Jaxson Olsen 3 2-4 8, Dillon Riffle 0 0-0 0,, Luke Bilau 0 0-0 0, Jonah Pate 0 0-0 0, JT Allen 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-19 48.
BUTTE (8-13) – Blake Drakos 3 1-2 10, Tommy Mellott 1 8-9 10, Cael Stenson 2 2-4 7, Andrew Booth 2 0-0 6, Jake Olson 5 1-2 11, Kaven Noctor 3 4-4 11, Mikey O’Dell 1 0-0 3, Ryan Burt 1 0-2 2, Cole Stewart 0 0-0 0, Kenley Leary 0 3-4 3. Totals 18 18-25 62.
3-point goals – Glacier 5 (Schwarz 2, Price, Spohnhauer, Heath), Butte 8 (Booth 2, O’Dell, Drakos 3, Stenson, Noctor). Fouls – Glacier 18, Butte 17. Fouled out – Schwarz. Technical foul – Allen.
Western AA Divisional
Boys
at Missoula Sentinel High School
Thursday
Missoula Hellgate 70, Missoula Big Sky 41
Glacier 42, Helena 35
Missoula Sentinel 65, Butte 48
Helena Capital 74, Flathead 40
Friday
Missoula Big Sky 46, Helena 37, loser out
Butte 69, Flathead 64, loser out
Missoula Hellgate 81, Glacier 54, semifinal
Helena Capital 71, Missoula Sentinel 57, semifinal
Saturday
Missoula Sentinel 50, Missoula Big Sky 30, loser out
Butte 62, Glacier 48, loser out
Missoula Sentinel 71, Butte 55, consolation
Missoula Hellgate 63,. Helena Capital 45