By FRITZ NEIGHBOR
Daily Inter Lake | February 26, 2022 10:00 PM
When Nolan Hyde knocked down a 3-pointer for Glacier Saturday, cutting Missoula Hellgate’s lead to 22-19 midway through the second quarter, it seemed like the Wolfpack might just hang around.
That’s what the Pack did last March, then beating a powerful Hellgate team 45-43 at the buzzer for a berth in the state tournament.
The Knights weren’t as hospitable this time around, closing the second quarter and opening the third with 6-0 spurts that set up a 55-37 victory at the Wolf Den.
Griffin Kinch, Hellgate’s 6-foot-6 post, won his battle with Glacier’s 6-7 Noah Dowler to the tune of 17 points and seven boards. His six straight points to open the second half staked the Knights to a 34-19 lead.
Brogan Callahan came off the bench to score 13 points for Hellgate, which ended its regular season 15-3 overall and 12-2 in the Western AA. The Knights will be the No. 2 seed into next week’s Western AA Divisional at Helena High, because Helena Capital (16-2, 12-2 in league) owns the tiebreaker.
Glacier (7-11, 6-8 in league) goes in as the No. 4 seed, and will take on the host Bengals Thursday.
The Wolfpack were building momentum — four straight wins, including one over Capital — coming into this week. Then came an overtime loss at Missoula Big Sky Friday, in which the Pack battled back from a 26-10 deficit to force OT on Dowler’s tip-in at the buzzer.
On Saturday Glacier got little going aside from Ty Olsen, whose floater game remains on-point.
Hellgate’s length had something to do with that. Guards Ian Finch and Asher Topp combined to shoot just twice, but made life tough on the Pack’s perimeter players. Finch had three steals and five boards.
Olsen’s nine points led Glacier; Hyde was next with seven. Will Salonen, coming off his best game this season, scored four early points but also earned a technical by hanging on the rim on a late dunk attempt. Connor Sullivan didn’t find the range from three until late in the game.
Glacier split its two regular-season games with Helena. Each team won on its home floor.
Hellgate 18 10 18 9 – 55
Glacier 12 7 11 7 – 37
MISSOULA HELLGATE — Connor Dick 1-4 2-3 4, Dre Bowie 2-7 4-6 8, Griffin Kinch 6-11 5-6 17, Asher Topp 1-1 0-0 3, Ian Finch 0-1 0-0 0, Easton Sant 3-5 2-2 8, Brogan Callahan 5-8 2-3 13, Tommy Nilson 1-2 0-0 2, Leo Filardi 0-0 0-0 0, Donovyn Headswift 0-0 0-0 0, Marlo Rosemond 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-39 15-20 55.
GLACIER — Jake Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Nolan Hyde 3-5 0-0 7, Connor Sullivan 1-9 0-0 3, Kyson Wagner 3-8 0-1 6, Will Salonen 1-7 2-2 4, Ty Olsen 4-7 0-0 9, Noah Dowler 2-2 0-0 4, Tyler McDonald 2-4 1-1 5, Xavier Stout 0-0 0-0 0, Cohen Kastelitz 0-1 1-2 1, Kaid Buls 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Nikunen 0-0 0-0 0, Travys Agan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-44 4-6 37.
3-point goals — Hellgate 2-8 (Topp 1-1, Callahan 1-3, Dick 0-2, Finch 0-1, Bowie 0-1), Glacier 3-15 (Hyde 1-2, Olsen 1-2, Sullivan 1-6, Salonen 0-2, Wagner 0-2, McDonald 0-1). Rebounds — Hellgate 30 (Kinch 7, Finch 5, Dick 5), Glacier 20 (Wagner 4, Salonen 4, Dowler 4). Fouls — Hellgate 11, Glacier 15. Fouled out — none. Technical foul — Salonen. Steals — Hellgate 4 (Finch 3), Glacier 5 (Salonen 2). Blocks — Helglate 3 (Kinch 3), Glacier 2 (Dowler 2). Turnovers — Hellgate 10, Glacier 12.