Wolfpack surges to boys crosstown win
FRITZ NEIGHBOR | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 6 months AGO
Glacier's John Pyron (1) drives to the basket against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Kyson Wagner (12) looks to shoot between Flathead defenders Luca Zoeller (32) and Gavin Chouinard (13) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Connor Sullivan (2) shoots a three-pointer in the corner against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Joston Cripe (34) spots up for a three-pointer against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Kyson Wagner (12) drives to the basket against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Noah Cummings (10) blocks a layup by Glacier's John Pyron (1) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Ty Olsen (5) drives to the basket against Flathead's Gavin Chouinard (13) Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Joston Cripe (34) is fouled on his way to the basket by Glacier's Jake Turner (32) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Jake Turner (32) looks to shoot over Flathead's Gavin Chouinard (13) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Noah Dowler (24) draws contact on his way to the basket between Flathead's Joston Cripe (34) and Luca Zoeller (32) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Flathead's Luca Zoeller (32) looks to shoot between Glacier defenders Noah Dowler (24) and Will Salonen (23) at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Will Salonen (23) drives to the basket against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Glacier's Ty Olsen (5) drives to the basket for a layup in the fourth quarter against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 21. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
SPORTS EDITOR Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast. IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together. | January 21, 2022 10:54 PM
The Glacier Wolfpack showed no jitters on Flathead’s home floor Friday, in a 69-49 crosstown boys basketball win.
Especially Ty Olsen.
The junior guard scored 20 points and fueled a 12-0 run to start the third quarter that erased any doubt it would be the Pack’s night. Left open in front of the Glacier bench, he hit two 3-pointers, then scored off a steal by Will Salonen and it was suddenly 44-23.
The lead grew to 48-23 on a John Pyron bucket, and Flathead never came closer than 18 points.
“He came out, that second half especially, with a lot of confidence and shot the ball well,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said of Olsen. “He had a great game. He’s a competitor, and he rose up on a big stage tonight.”
Connor Sullivan added 10 points, and he and Salonen combined on three straight threes as Glacier (3-6 overall, 2-3 in the Western AA) ran off 12 straight points in the first quarter. Nolan Hyde’s basket made it 14-3 at the 2:30 mark.
Olsen added a couple drives in the second quarter after Flathead (1-8, 1-4 in league) had scored six straight points to trail 21-11. The gap was 36-23 by halftime.
“I think we just played together as a team,” said Olsen, who was 9-for-11 from the floor. “We just feed off each other’s energy. Teammates got me open.”
Glacier shot 52 percent from the floor and owned the boards 42-31. The Pack sent Sullivan at Flathead scorer Joston Cripe, who still scored a game-high 24 points. Cripe needed help, and with pivot Joe Hansen out sick no other Brave scored more than five.
“Connor had Joston most of the time,” Harkins said of guarding Cripe. “Jake Turner played him a little bit; Ty played him a little bit. We put about five guys on him.”
Pyron added eight points and seven boards; Salonen had eight and eight.
“I was proud of everybody,” Harkins said. “We talk a lot about getting better every day. We would have liked to have won a couple of those close ones that we dropped, but we learn from those too. By the end of the season is where we’ll need to be playing our best.”
Glacier 18 18 15 18 - 69
Flathead 5 18 9 17 - 49
GLACIER — Nolan Hyde 2-4 0-2 4, Will Salonen 3-7 0-0 8, Noah Dowler 2-3 5-9 9, Connor Sullivan 4-8 0-0 10, Ty Olsen 9-11 0-2 20, John Pyron 3-6 2-5 8, Tyler McDonald 1-4 0-0 2, Jake Turner 0-1 1-2 1, Kyson Wagner 2-4 3-6 7, Xavier Stout 0-0 0-0 0, Kaid Buls 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 11-30 69.
FLATHEAD — Joston Cripe 7-18 8-9 24, Noah Cummings 1-5 1-2 43, Luca Zoeller 1-5 2-5 4, Gavin Chouinard 1-9 1-2 3, Drew Lowry 2-3 0-0 5, Gabriel Sims 0-0 1-3 1, Brody Thornsberry 1-1 0-0 2, Lyric Ersland 2-2 0-0 4, Michael Manning 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 15-43 15-23 49.
3-point goals — Glacier 6-15 (Hyde 2-4, Sullivan 2-6, Olsen 2-5), Flathead 4-22 (Cripe 2-10, Cummings 1-3, Lowry 1-1). Rebounds — Glacier 42 (Dowler 11, Salonen 8), Flathead 31 (Sims 7). Fouls — Glacier 20, Flathead 21. Steals — Glacier 4 (Pyron 3), Flathead 3 (Cripe 2). Blocks — glacier 0, Flathead 3 (Cripe, Zoeller, Chouinard). Turnovers — Glacier 7, Flathead 12.
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