By FRITZ NEIGHBOR
Daily Inter Lake | January 20, 2023 11:54 PM
A couple notable things about Crosstown in Kalispell are how many athletes are named Noah, and how both AA schools have a standout with the same phonetic name.
Glacier’s Kenedee Moore and Flathead’s Kennedy Moore provided a nice battle within the girls basketball game played Friday at the Wolf Den; Glacier’s Moore outscored Flathead’s 20-17, but the Bravettes rallied to win the game 44-37.
It was a proper nightcap to the festivities, because the boys game turned Glacier’s way early: The Wolfpack won 72-35.
Glacier boys 72, Flathead 35
Flathead started out with a silky shot from Noah Cummings down low for a 2-0 lead, and about everything else went Glacier’s way.
Cohen Kastelitz began a 13-0 Wolfpack run with two free throws, and ended it with a putback at the 1:55 mark of the first quarter. In between Xavier Stout came in and hit the first of his four 3-pointers.
Noah Dowler ended the quarter with a bucket for a 15-4 Glacier lead, and his dunk with 25 seconds left in the half, off a feed from Travys Agan, made it 37-14.
By then Flathead (0-9 overall, 0-5 in the Western AA) was having serious issues with Glacier’s full-court pressure and rebounding.
“We just pick points in games where we do it,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said of the press. “We work on it every day in practice. I like it at certain times, and tonight — their defense will really slow you down, and we wanted to get tempo up.”
Stout hit three 3-pointers in the second half to finish with a game-high 14 points. Tyler McDonald added 11. Dowler scored 10 first-half points and added five rebounds for the Pack (6-3, 3-2 in league). Kastelitz had 10 points and eight boards.
“Noah had a great game,” Harkins said. “Today he put it together offensively. He’s been a force defensively and rebounding. (Kastelitz) set the tone for us I thought early. I think he had three offensive rebounds in the first minute.”
Slate Burrington scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds off the bench to lead Flathead. Cummings had nine points.
Glacier’s next action is a Tuesday road game with Big Sky. Flathead hosts the Big Sky Eagles next Thursday.
Glacier boys 72, Flathead 35
Flathead 4 12 5 14 – 35
Glacier 15 22 18 17 – 72
FLATHEAD — Noah Cummings 3-9 2-3 9, Lyric Ersland 2-5 0-0 5, Gaberiel Sims 2-6 0-0 4 Brody Thorsnberry 1-2 2-2 4, Josh Eagleton 1-8 1-2 3, Michael Manning 0-1 0-0 0, Korbin Eaton 0-0 0-0 0, Stephen Riley 0-0 0-0 0, Slate Burrington 3-4 4-4 10, Dustyn Franchini-White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 9-11 35.
GLACIER — Cohen Kastelitz 3-6 4-4 10, Noah Dowler 5-6 0-0 10, Tyler McDonald 4-6 2-2 11, Adam Nikunen 3-5 0-0 8, Ty Olsen 0-2 0-0 0, Kaidrian Buls 2-4 0-0 4, Xavier Stout 5-10 0-1 14 , Travys Agan 1-3 0-0 2, arson Gulick 1-6 0-0 2, Jeff Lillard 3-4 0-0 7, Alex Hausmann 1-2 0-0 2, Brantly Salmonsen 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 28-55 8-9 72.
3-point goals — Flathead 2-8. (Cummings 1-3, Ersland 1-2, Eagleton 0-3), Glacier 8-19 (Stout 4-9, Nikunen 2-4, McDonald 1-1, Lillard 1-1, Bulls 0-1, Hausmann 0-1, Olsen 0-2). Rebounds — Flathead 17 (Burrington 4), Glacier 34 (Kastelitz 8). Fouls — Flathead 16, Glacier 10. Steals — Flathead 6 (Cummings 2), Glacier 12 (Castelitz 3). Blocks — Glacier 4 (Agan 3, Nikunen), Flathead 1 (Burrington). Turnovers — Flathead 20, Glacier 11.