The packed house at Flathead High School’s gymnasium emptied in a hurry.

The Flathead Braves battled themselves as much as they did the No. 5-ranked Glacier Wolfpack (8-4 overall, 2-2 league) in Thursday night’s crosstown rivalry, committing 16 first-half turnovers while shooting just 25 percent in the first two quarters of play en route to a 70-40 loss.

“A slow start is putting it mildly,” Braves head coach Fred Febach said.

“We dug a huge hole for ourselves and weren’t able to climb out of it. Honestly, I’m the one that is responsible for that performance. I believe my kids are certainly capable. I believe they will improve and get better, but that slow start against a team like Glacier, you can’t do it in (Class) AA. They just buried us early.”

After holding Flathead (4-7, 1-2) to just five points in the first quarter, Glacier went on a 15-2 run lasting 4:57 of the second period of play.

The Braves called a timeout and proceeded to outscore the Wolfpack 5-3 after the break with their final three points of the half coming on a Blake Wilson 3-point play.

The Wolfpack then held the ball for the final 55 seconds of the second quarter before Sam McCamley drained a buzzer beating 3-pointer, sucking any remaining life out of the Braves, as Glacier took a commanding 36-12 lead into the locker room.

It was McCamley’s second trey in a game where the Wolfpack drained 8 of 14 shots from behind the arc.

McCamley finished with a game-high 20 points.

“I think they got into a rhythm early, they felt comfortable and when the first and second shots fall it gets easier,” Glacier head coach Mark Harkins said of the Wolfpack’s offensive performance.

“I thought they played loose, but I really liked how they shared the ball. They found open people and it gave ourselves high-percentage shots. We executed pretty well offensively.”

Flathead’s Matt Marshall started off the second half with a steal and coast-to-coast finish for two of his team-high 14 points, including a 3 for 3 shooting performance from the 3-point line.

But it was all for naught as the Wolfpack, who outrebounded Flathead 39-26, grew their lead to as much as 35 early in the fourth to cruise to the Western AA victory.

Sophomore post Jaxen Hashley had seven rebounds for Glacier and junior guard Dylan Ruggles added eight assists.

The Braves travel to top-ranked Missoula Hellgate on Saturday at 4:15 p.m., and the Wolfpack will play Helena High at home on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Glacier      15    21     20     14     —     70

Flathead     5     7     13     15     —     40

GLACIER — Kade McCutchen 1-2 0-0 2, Sam McCamley 7-9 3-4 20 Jaxen Hashley 2-5 1-2 6, Cain Boschee 3-4 0-1 9, Jake Willich 1-1 0-1 2, Dylan Ruggles 0-0 2-2 2, Taden Gilman 1-5 3-4 5, Jake Norbeg 1-2 1-2 3, Cody Norberg 5-7 2-2 13, Truman Pisk 3-7 2-4 8. Totals — 24-46 14-22 70.

FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 5-11 1-2 14, Seth Adolph 0-2 1-4 1, Alex Croymans 1-7 1-2 3, Cade White 0-1 1-2 1, Wyatt Smith 0-0 0-2 0, Keaton Krantz 1-1 0-0 2, Blake Wilson 1-7 2-3 4, Trae Habel 2-4 0-1 4, Bridger Johnson 2-3 0-2 4, Tyler Johnson 2 2-2 6, Micah Bucy 0 1-2 1. Totals — 14-43 9-22 40.

3-point goals — Glacier 8-14 (McCamley 3-4, Hashley 1-2, C. Norberg 1-2, Boschee 3-4) Flathead 3-6 (Marshall 3-3). Rebounds — Glacier 39 (Hashley 7, Boschee 6). Flathead 26 (Habel 10, Marshall 4). Assists — Glacier 23 (Ruggles 8, McCamley 4), Flathead 14 (Marshall 4, Croymans 3). Turnovers — Glacier 11, Flathead 25. Total fouls — Glacier 18, Flathead 16. Fouled out — none.