WHITEFISH — Unable to break down Whitefish’s zone defense, the Glacier boys found their rhythm from deep, making nine 3-pointers in a 65-45 blowout of the Bulldogs in a nonconference basketball game on Friday night.

Whitefish controlled tempo early, playing a stout 2-3 zone defense and slowing the game down to a deliberate pace on offense, bothering the fast-paced Glacier team used to running in transition.

“They came out, they got in the zone and we couldn’t get the ball inside,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “We’d have possessions that were 45-second possessions on one end when they had the ball offensively. They did a good job with that and played the game where they wanted to.”

That pace allowed Whitefish to nearly erase a 19-10 first quarter deficit before halftime, cutting the Glacier lead to 34-28 with 15 seconds to play in the second quarter.

Glacier found its rhythm again early in the third quarter, this time breaking through the zone with dribble penetration. Senior wing player Kyler Harkins spun through the lane and scored a layup while being fouled and Evan Epperly rebounded Harkins’ missed free throw and followed with an athletic layup of his own to extend a 7-0 run that broke the game open.

Harkins and senior guard Greg Jones combined for three 3-pointers to close the quarter and kick off the rout, leading 57-38 after the third.

“Bryan (Michaels), Kyler and Greg shot the ball real well,” Mark Harkins said. “Greg came off the bench, hit two huge threes that gave us a real game.”

Already in the bonus in the fourth quarter, Glacier took the air out of the ball for the final eight minutes, closing the game with a barrage of free throws.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said.

“They played hard, they battled. Glacier every year, year-in year-out, is one of the best teams in the state. They shoot the ball extremely well. Every night. They rebound really well.

“We did a pretty good job on the boards. I was really impressed with Garrett (Anderson), he came a long way tonight.”

Anderson nearly posted a double-double for the Bulldogs, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds, controlling the inside of the zone and keeping Glacier away from the rim.

Michaels led Glacier with 18 points, while Epperly finished with 15 and six assists. Kyler Harkins scored 13 with 10 rebounds.

“This was a great chance for us to work on some of our zone offense,” Mark Harkins said.

“That’s what these games are for before Christmas. You have a chance to work on some stuff, see what we need to work on during the break.”

Glacier plays at Great Falls today in the final game before the holiday break. Whitefish plays at Libby today in its first conference game of the season.

Glacier 19 17 21 8 — 65

Whitefish 10 18 10 7 — 45

GLACIER — Evan Epperly 7-16 0-1 15, Bryan Michaels 6-14 3-5 18, Kyler Harkins 5-13 0-2 13, Tanner Olsen 1-6 3-4 5, Jaxen Hashley 1-5 0-0 2, Greg Jones 2-4 0-0 6, Cain Boschee 1-4 1-2 3, Tucker Rauthe 0-2 1-4 1, Truman Pisk 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-66 8-18 65.

WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 3-11 2-2 10, AJ Weetsch 3-9 3-3 10, EJ Havens 1-8 3-3 6, Hugh Ramlow 0-4 2-2 2, Garrett Anderson 2-5 4-6 8, Cody Olson 0-0 4-4 4, Luke May 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 11-39 18-20 45.

3-pointers — Glacier 9-25 (Michaels 3, Harkins 3), Whitefish 5-13 (Nicholson 2). Rebounds — Glacier 38 (Harkins 10), Whitefish 40 (Anderson 9). Assists — Glacier 22 (Epperly 6), Whitefish 7 (Nicholson 2, Olson 2). Blocks — Glacier 2 (Boschee 2), Whitefish 0. Steals — Glacier 12 (Boschee 4), Whitefish 1 (Havens). Fouls — Glacier 18, Whitefish 17. Fouled out — Pisk, Ramlow. Technical fouls — none.