BILLINGS — Glacier managed to hang with top-ranked Helena Capital for the better part of quarter before the Bruins took over, posting a 63-44 victory in semifinal action at the Class AA state boys basketball tournament Friday evening at MetraPark Rimrock Auto Arena.

Capital (21-1) gained a little breathing room with a 20-point second quarter for a 34-23 halftime lead. The Bruins stayed on top of Glacier in the second half, outscoring the Wolfpack 29-21.

“The effort was great,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“They played hard like they always do. We just didn’t shoot the ball very well, lost some discipline offensively and forced some shots.”

And Capital was quick to capitalize on that.

Glacier (12-11) trailed by only a point after eight minutes of action.

“Second quarter, we were cold and they got on a run,” Harkins said.

“They are a great team ... very efficient. When we got down, we tried to speed things up, score some points. They are so good in transition and they increased their lead on us. Credit to them ... they are very good basketball team.”

Glacier was led offensively by Evan Epperly and Bryan Michaels. Both finished with nine points. Tanner Olson had eight.

Carson Dummer totaled 18 points for Capital. Hunter Beto added 11.

Glacier drops down to loser-out play today at 10:30 a.m. at Billings Skyview. The Wolfpack will face Helena, which stayed alive with a 62-60 consolation win on Friday over Billings Skyview.

Glacier beat Helena twice during the regular season — by four and 10 points.

“This is tough one (semifinal) to bounce back from,” Harkins said. “We challenged the kids to be ready to play.”

Capital advances to the championship game tonight at 8:30 versus Missoula Hellgate.

Semifinals

Capital 63, Glacier 44

Glacier 13 10 6 15 — 44

Capital 14 20 10 19 — 63

Glacier (12-11) — Sam McCamley 1-3 2-2 5, Greg Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Evan Epperly 4-13 0-0 9, Bryan Michaels 3-8 3-3 9, Kyler Harkins 1-6 0-0 3, Tanner Olsen 3-7 0-0 8, Cain Boschee 1-1 0-0 3, Taden Gillman 1-2 1-1 3, Jaxen Hashley 1-1 0-0 2, Kevin Malloy 1-1 0-0 2, Truman Pisk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-43 6-6 44. 3-point goals: 6-16 (Olsen 2-3, Boschee 1-1, McCamley 1-2, Epperly 1-3, Harkins 1-5, Michaels 0-1, Gillman 0-1). Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 25 (Michaels 7). Assists: 9 (three with 2). Blocks: 3 (Michaels 2). Steals: 4 (four with 1). Turnovers: 15.

Helena Capital (21-1) — Kyle Nickol 3-8 0-0 8, Casey Ebelt 1-3 0-0 2, Keegan Syvrud 0-0 0-0 0, Keeley Larson 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Harrington 2-3 4-5 9, Sean Mulcahy 3-5 0-2 6, Hunter Beto 3-9 2-2 11, Gus Chancy 0-0 1-2 1, Jason Corne 3-7 0-1 6, Carson Dummer 8-12 2-3 18, Bradley Haller 1-1 0-0 2, Sam Bryggman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-50 9-15 63. 3-point goals: 6-15 (Beto 3-8, Nickol 2-4, Harrington 1-2, Larson 0-1). Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 32 (Dummer 11). Assists: 15 (Harrington 5). Blocks: 1 (Dummer 1). Steals: 8 (Beto 3). Turnovers: 10.

Missoula Hellgate 57, Billings West 37

Hellgate 11 15 18 13 — 57

West 10 9 10 8 — 37

Missoula Hellgate (18-4) — Tres Tinkle 8-15 2-2 20, Dylan Harvala 1-2 0-0 3, Rhett Baerlocher 2-5 0-0 4, Brady Henthorn 2-5 1-1 6, Josh Seaton 0-0 0-0 0, Peter Vandam 0-0 1-2 1, Hunter Mahlum 1-2 2-4 4, Connor Schenk 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Bray 2- 4-4 10, Pat Colberg 2-2 0-0 5, Mark Lebsock 1-1 2-2 4, Kole Swartz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-39 12-15 57. 3-point goals: 7-14 (Tinkle 2, Harvala 1, Henthorn 1, Bray 2, Colberg 1). Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 27 (Tinkle 10). Assists: 15 (Bray 6). Blocks: 3 (Colberg 2). Steals: 2 (Mahlum 1, Swartz 1). Turnovers: 9

Billings West (17-5) -- Christian Kappel 3-3 0-0 7, Tanner Greyn 0-1 0-0 0, Wilson Brott 0-3 0-0 0, Jayson Leinwand 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Funyak 0-0 0-0 0, Danny Betcher 5-10 5-9 15, Jared Samuelson 5-10 0-0 11, Jeremiah Cochran 2-5 0-0 4, Angelo Villarreal 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 15-36 5-9 37. 3-point goals: 2-13 (Kappel 1, Samuelson 1). Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 21 (Samuelson 5). Assists: 9 (Betcher 3). Blocks: 1 (Betcher). Steals: 4 (Kappel 2). Turnovers: 10.

Loser-out games

Helena 62, Billings Skyview 60

Helena 14 9 18 21 — 62

Skyview 10 20 12 18 — 60

Helena (9-14) — Garth Grimsrud 0-1 3-4 3, Tyler Tolman 2-3 0-2 5, Kyle Cochran 3-5 2-3 8, Troy Arntson 6-10 0-0 16, McBride Galt 2-4 0-2 4, Chase South 2-2 7-8 11, Ragen Shein 0-0 0-0 0, Henry Garrett 5-8 5-9 15. Totals: 20-33 17-28 62. 3-point goals: 5-10 (Arntson 4-6, Tolman 1-2, Grimsrud 0-1, Galt 0-1). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 21 (Galt 8). Assists: 12 (South 6). Blocks: 3 (Garrett 3). Steals: 6 (Galt 3). Turnovers: 8.

Billings Skyview (13-10) — Baylee Slevira 2-2 0-0 5, Jacob Smyle 1-1 1-3 3, Kendal Manuel 5-12 5-5 18, Payton Stott 2-3 0-0 5, Nolan McHugh 4-7 1-3 10, Jalen Whitley 0-1 0-0 0, Teague Rutherford 2-2 2-2 8, Tre’von Strong 2-5 3-3 7, Jameson Willems 1-1 2-2 4. Totals: 19-34 14-18 60. 3-point goals: 8-13 (Manuel 3-5, Rutherford 2-2, Slevira 1-1, Stott 1-2, McHugh 1-2, Strong 0-1). Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 17 (McHugh 6). Assists: 6 (Slevira 2, Stott 2). Blocks: 0. Steals: 2 (Smyle 1, McHugh 1). Turnovers: 8.

CMR 62, Great Falls 57

Great Falls 13 17 9 18 — 57

CMR 11 15 11 25 — 62

Great Falls (12-11) — Lukas Vining 2-8 0-0 5, Bryce Clark 3-4 2-2 9, Lester Johnson 0-5 0-0 0, Matt Wyman 5-8 4-5 14, Jake Banach 0-0 2-4 2, Brendan Howard 7-14 5-9 19, Jake Wetzel 2-6 2-2 8. Totals: 19-45 15-22 57. 3-point goals: 4-12 (Wetzel 2-6, Vining 1-1, Clark 1-1, Johnson 0-1, Wyman 0-1, Howard 0-2). Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Vining, Clark. Rebounds: 30 (Howard 8). Assists: 7 (three with 2). Blocks: 1 (Vining). Steals: 3 (three with 1). Turnovers: 14.

Great Falls CMR (12-11) — Karl Tucker 2-2 0-0 4, Daryl Williams 2-5 0-1 4, Jayse McLean 5-13 11-13 22, Gabe Kuntz 2-6 0-2 4, Andrew Grinde 5-7 3-4 16, Dylan Halverson 0-1 2-2 2, Andre Langhorne 2-7 0-0 4, Eric Dawson 2-6 2-3 6. Totals: 20-47 18-25 62. 3-point goals: 4-15 (Grinde 3-5, McLean 1-2, Kuntz 0-1, Halverson 0-1, Williams 0-2, Langhorne 0-4). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Tucker. Rebounds: 29 (McLean 10). Assists: 13 (Tucker 4). Blocks: 1 (Tucker). Steals: 6 (Williams 2). Turnovers: 6.