By FRITZ NEIGHBOR
Daily Inter Lake | February 23, 2023 11:55 PM
The Glacier boys basketball has been pretty good at home this season, even before Thursday’s Senior Night battle with Missoula Big Sky.
On this night they were really, really good.
Putting four players in double figures, Glacier swamped Missoula Big Sky 68-38 to improve to 11-6 on the season, and 8-5 in Western AA games.
That includes a 7-2 mark at home; but none of those wins saw the Pack shoot 69 percent from the floor and 62 percent (8 of 13) from the 3-point arc. That’s what happened Thursday, in front of a crowd that braved sub-zero temps to get to the Wolf Den.
“There were a lot of strong emotions,” said Xavier Stout, one of nine seniors on the roster. “We’ve been playing with each other since freshman year, and a lot of travel ball before freshman year. So it’s just all built up to this moment, really.
“It was just really cool to go out there and play with everyone one last time at home, and to have all our fans behind us. Just really cool.”
Stout and Kaidrian Buls each hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points each; Bulls, a senior, and Cohen Kastelitz, both went 5-for-5 from the floor. Kastelitz and senior center Noah Dowler each had 10 points, and Dowler’s performance included another crowd-pleasing dunk in a 13-0 Glacier spurt to open the second half.
Dowler added a low-post bucket at 1:45 of the third quarter, and Glacier’s lead was 47-17. It was that kind of night for the Pack, who avenged a 50-49 loss at Big Sky last month.
“This time we really wanted it,” said Kastelitz. “The time before we kind of took it for granted; playing basketball — ‘We’ve always got more games.’ I think we realized this was our last time to show out at home.”
A nice fadeaway by Big Sky’s Josiah Cauresma, who scored a game-high 16 points (including a dunk), drew the Eagles to 12-9 midway through the first quarter.
From there Glacier scored 19 of the game’s next 21 points. A steal and layup by Ty Olsen, a Kastelitz drive and a bucket from sophomore Carson Gulick had Glacier up 34-11 with 2:30 left in the first half.
It wouldn’t get much better for the Eagles, who lost their fourth straight to fall to 7-9, and 6-7 in league.
“We got out in transition, got some easy shots early and I think that got our confidence going,” said Glacier coach Mark Harkins, whose club plays at Hellgate Saturday. “I thought all my seniors did a great job. All my kids did a great job, but thanks to the seniors on senior night. It’s their last night playing in the gym, and I think they wanted to remember it.”
Big Sky 9 8 8 13 – 38
Glacier 18 16 15 19 – 68
MISSOULA BIG SKY — Owen McGuinn 0-2 2-4 2, Aidan Beard 5-9 0-1 10, Isaiah Reed 2-9 0-0 5, Josiah Cuaresma 4-8 6-6 16, Tory Williams 1-3 0-2 2, Lucas Thorne 1-3 0-0 3, Carson Tower 0-3 0-0 0, Miachal Hawk 0-1 0-0 0, McGil Sabado 0-1 0-0 0, Micahel Simonovich 0-0 0-0 0, Drew Paxton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-40 8-11 38.
GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 5-5 0-0 10, Kaidrian Buls 5-5 0-0 13, Noah Dowler 5-7 0-0 10, Adam Nikunen 3-4 0-0 7, Ty Olsen 1-3 0-0 2, Travys Agan 1-1 0-0 2, Jeff Lillard 2-4 0-0 4, Xavier Stout 4-8 2-2 13, Wyatt Cox 0-2 0-0 0, Carson Gulick 3-3 0-0 7, Ben Winters 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Hausmann 0-0 0-0 0, Liam Ells 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-42 2-2 68.
3-point goals — Big Sky 4-14 (Cauresma 2-3, Thorne 1-2, Reed 1-3, Williams 0-2, Towe 0-3, Hawk 0-1), Glacier 8-13 (Buls 3-3, Stout 3-5, Gulick 1-1, Nikunen 1-2, Dowler 0-1, Lillard 0-1). Rebounds — Big Sky 16 (Beard 7), Glacier 26 (Kastelitz 7). Fouls — Big Sky 7, Glacier 16. Steals — Bigh Skyh 6 (Cauresma 2), Glacier 8 (Olsen 3). Blocks — Big Sky 1 (Cauresma), Glacier 1 (Dowler). Turnovers — Big Sky 15, Glacier 15.