In a game played for first place in the conference, the Glacier boys left no question as to who was the better team on the floor. The Wolfpack dominated Missoula Hellgate, winning 69-37 to claim its third straight Western AA basketball championship.

Glacier (17-3 overall, 10-2 Western AA) controlled most of the game, but took over in the third quarter.

Leading by just three points a minute into the half, Glacier’s offense went off. The Wolfpack scored on seven straight possessions, ripping off a 16-0 run in three minutes. Glacier closed the third on a 24-2 run, and led 58-33 entering the fourth quarter taking the final score out of question in the final eight minutes.

The Wolfpack led by as much as 33 points, shooting 84 percent from the field in the second half.

“We knew we were a good team,” Glacier senior guard Kyle Griffith said. “It feels good to prove it, prove that we could be that good.”

The Glacier offense started through 7-foot center Ryan Edwards, who dominated in the paint scoring 22 points on 9 of 11 shooting, including 13 points in the third quarter during the Wolfpack’s big run.

“Ryan was playing outstanding,” Griffith said. “When you have a center that’s playing pretty good it really helps the rest of the team.”

Edwards’ 22 points led the Wolfpack in scoring, but he wasn’t the only one to make a contribution. Evan Epperly finished with 15 points and Griffith had 12, each working the perimeter defense for steals that led to breakaway layups. Bryan Michaels scored 11 points, including two buckets that sparked the big third quarter run — a slick spin move in the lane that created an easy layup and a coast-to-coast basket through all five Hellgate defenders.

“They executed offensively very good,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“We got Ryan touches in the post when we needed to. We ran the break. We had 22 assists. When you can get that kind of assists numbers ... You know your kids are confident in each other, trust each other.”

The defense was also superb in the second half, holding Hellgate (16-4, 9-3) to just four field goals and keeping sophomore star Tres Tinkle to just 12 points, including just two after halftime. Tinkle has been one of the leading scorers in the state, averaging 20 points per game.

“We know that they have other guys that can play too, but our main goal was to stop Tres,” Epperly said.

“Then we went from there.”

The win earns the Wolfpack a bye into the state tournament, where they will play the fourth seed from the East.

Seeding and pairings will be determined after next week’s playoff games.

Hellgate will take the third seed from the West, where the Knights will host the sixth seed next week.

“It’s a good feeling,” Edwards said.

“Ending on a win, ending on a championship. Now, we have to go to Great Falls and win it all.”

Hellgate 12 14 7 4 — 37

Glacier 15 17 26 11 — 69

HELLGATE — Tres Tinkle 3-6 5-8 12, Luke Bewley 1-1 0-0 2, Brady Henthorn 1-4 0-0 3, Brendan Jones 3-4 0-1 8, Pat Colberg 1-5 0-0 2, Mark Lebsock 1-3 2-3 4, Devin Bray 2-5 1-2 6. Totals: 12-38 8-14 37.

GLACIER — Kyle Griffith 6-9 0-0 12, Evan Epperly 6-10 1-2 15, Bryan Michaels 5-7 0-1 11, Logan Iverson 1-4 0-0 2, Ryan Edwards 9-11 4-5 22, Charlie Obermiller 1-1 0-0 2, Nate Brown 1-1 0-0 3, James Cutler 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 30-44 5-8 69.

3-pointers — Hellgate 5-17 (Jones 2-2, Tinkle 1-2, Bray 1-2, Henthorn 1-4), Glacier 4-9 (Epperly 2-4, Michaels 1-2, Brown 1-1). Rebounds — Hellgate 14 (Tinkle 6), Glacier 25 (Michaels 7). Assists — Hellgate 10 (Five w/ 2), Glacier 22 (Epperly 8). Blocks — Hellgate 0, Glacier 3 (Edwards 3). Steals — Hellgate 4 (Bewley 2), Glacier 10 (Epperly 3). Fouls — Hellgate 13, Glacier 13. Technical fouls — Hellgate coach. Fouled out — none.