Pelc, pressure power Glacier's sweep of Flathead
JON ALLEN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 days AGO
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) draws a foul on a shot in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) knocks down a jump shot and draws a foul on a drive in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lyric Ersland (13) shoots a three in the fourth quarter against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Ava Malmin (21) draws a foul on a shot in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) blocks a shot by Flathead's Dustyn Franchini-White (1) at the buzzer in the fourth quarter at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Asher Knopik (11) shoots in the first quarter against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Reese Ramey (22) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Noah Sonju (23) battles for a rebound with Glacier's Slate Burrington (21) in the fourth quarter at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (4) knocks down a three in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Karley Allen (14) goes to the basket defended by Flathead's Grace Gall (23) in the second half at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lyric Ersland (13) knocks down a three in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Luke Nikunen (12) dives on a loose ball in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) knocks down a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) blocks a shot by Glacier's Karley Allen (14) in the second half at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Liam Ells (2) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Slate Burrington (21) goes to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cazz Rankoski (25) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Three “P’s” proved pivotal at crosstown Friday: (Cooper) Pelc, pressure and the Pack.
Pelc showed out with 15 points and a pivotal block in the closing seconds of a 54-49 boys win, the Wolfpack girls pressured Flathead relentlessly for 32 minutes en route to a 47-22 victory and the Pack left the Wolf Den with a sweep of their crosstown rivals.
"I knew they were going to have to hit a three if they wanted to force overtime,” Pelc said of his late block. “That was just a play you have to make in any game down the stretch.”
Asher Knopik’s and-one layup with 25 seconds left put Glacier ahead for good, though he missed the free throw.
“The game was tight and something had to happen,” Knopik said. “My teammates got me the ball and I had to make a play. We got a call to where I like to be and it went through the net.”
Flathead’s Lyric Ersland led the Braves charge with 35 points, scoring 25 of Flathead’s 29 points in the second half and all 11 in the fourth.
“I’m in a position where I can be the guy who takes a lot of shots, but I trust my teammates too,” Ersland said. “It’s a tough thing, I can have the best game in the world, but if we lose, we lose as brothers. We have to face it and work together to come back and face them in a few weeks.”
Pelc was joined in double digits by Ethan Kastelitz with 11 points and Liam Ells with 10. Knopik finished with eight points, six coming in the final frame.
The win moves Glacier to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in Western AA games, Flathead falls to 2-8 and 0-5.
"They’re tough, they are a team that pressures the ball well, they speed you up,” Glacier coach Evan Epperly said of the Braves. “It’s a challenge to play at our pace and try to get quality looks and take care of the ball. We didn’t do it the whole night, but I thought we did it when it matters.”
After an even first quarter, the Wolfpack found a bit of separation as Pelc scored five straight during a Glacier 9-0 run that put the hosts ahead 23-17.
Out of the half, Ells grew the lead to 28-20 on a 3-pointer, before the Braves battled back.
An Ersland triple shifted momentum toward Flathead and Gabe St. Germain started a 7-0 run to give Flathead a 38-36 lead after three quarters.
“(Glacier’s) 1-3-1 zone is really good and it got us out of sync a little bit,” Flathead coach Dan Trageser said. “We did a good job in the second half picking it apart and we went on a run there in the third quarter when we executed really well.”
Kastelitz tied the game back up at 47 with four minutes left and Knopik gave Glacier the lead two minutes later at 49-47.
Ersland had a quick answer to tie the game before Knopik took the ball on the left wing and drove to the hoop, completing the layup through the harm.
After Liam Ells extended the lead, Flathead attempted to tie the game through Dustyn Franchini-White, but Pelc got a hand on the 3-point attempt and secured the rebound. He knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Glacier girls 47, Flathead 22
Game two of the doubleheader started with a bang as Reese Ramey quickly knocked down a triple to put Glacier ahead. The Pack never looked back in a wire-to-wire win.
“I couldn’t really hit a layup all night, but I could make a three,” Ramey said. “I was just shooting as much as I could because it’s my last year, I might as well just put it up.
“We’ve never won on our home floor against Flathead, so it was a special win.”
Ramey had eight points in the first quarter as the Wolfpack (5-4, 3-2) led 14-7 after eight minutes.
Cassidy Daniels opened the second with a bucket to cap off a 10-3 run. She and Ramey led the Wolfpack with 14 points apiece.
Grace Gall worked the Bravettes (2-8, 1-4) back into the game with a pair of second quarter triples as Flathead cut the lead to 20-16. Gall finished with 13 points, all in the first half.
Ramey shut down any Flathead momentum going into the half with her third 3-pointer of the game.
Out of the break, Glacier’s stifling defense held Flathead scoreless in the third frame for a 37-16 lead. Allie Krueger scored six in the quarter, including a buzzer-beating layup. She finished with 11 points.
“Our girls took the emotion of the event and still executed our game plan,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “It’s how hard we pressure, I think we practice defense more than most teams do and our girls understand they have to pressure and help.
“It’s just fundamental basketball, but the whole team buys into it.”
Taylor Greene got the Bravettes’ lone field goal of the second half to make it 38-20.
“I think Glacier played really well defensively,” Flathead coach Kaylee Fox said. “They had some really great answers for some of the things we were trying to do against them. We had a hard time scoring and we did not do a great job of keeping them off the offensive rebounds.”
The Wolfpack are back on the court Thursday as they play Missoula Hellgate — the girls play in Missoula and the boys at the Wolf Den at 7 p.m.
Flathead heads to Missoula to play Sentinel Thursday with the girls at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m.
Glacier boys 54, Flathead 49
Flathead 13 7 18 11 - 49
Glacier 13 12 11 18 - 54
FLATHEAD — Dustyn Franchini-White 0 0-0 0, Lyric Ersland 12 6-9 35, Gabe St. Germain 2 0-0 4, Eli Coopman 1 0-2 2, Noah Sonju 1 0-0 2, Brodee Zahn 1 0-0 2, Colin Smith 0 0-0 0, Korbin Eaton 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 6-11 49.
GLACIER — Cooper Pelc 3 7-7 15, Liam Ells 4 1-2 10, Ethan Kastelitz 4 0-0 11, Easton Kaufman 0 0-0 0, Asher Knopik 4 0-1 8, Luke Nikunen 1 0-0 3, Slate burrington 1 0-0 2, Dylan Banzet 1 3-4 5, Ben Winters 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 11-14 54.
3-point goals — Flathead 5 (Ersland 5), Glacier 7 (Kastelitz 3, Pelc 2, Ells, Nikunen). Fouls — Flathead 15, Glacier 14. Fouled out — none.
Glacier girls 47, Flathead 22
Flathead 7 9 0 - 22
Glacier 14 9 14 10 - 47
FLATHEAD — Makenna Aldrich 0 0-0 0, Teagan Flint 0 1-2 1, Gracie Kilmer 0 0-0 0, Taylor Greene 1 0-0 2, Caitlin Converse 1 0-0 3, Cheyenne Heino 0 0-0 0, Sami Dalager 0 1-2 1, Ava Malmin 0 2-4 2, Grace Gall 5 0-0 13 Mattie Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 4-10 22.
GLACIER — Rylee Bigelow 0 0-0 0, Karley Allen 0 2-2 2, Allie Krueger 4 3-4 11, Reese Ramey 5 0-0 14, Cassidy 5 3-3 14, Cazz Rankosky 1 1-2 4, Gracie Winkler 0 0-0 0, Lucy Holloway 0 0-0 0, Olivia Warriner 1 0-0 2, Alauna Hagen 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 9-11 47.
3-point goals — Flathead 4 (Gall 3, Converse), Glacier 5 (Ramey 4, Daniels) Fouls — Flathead 10, Glacier 15. Fouled out — none.
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) knocks down a jump shot and draws a foul on a drive in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lyric Ersland (13) shoots a three in the fourth quarter against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Ava Malmin (21) draws a foul on a shot in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) blocks a shot by Flathead's Dustyn Franchini-White (1) at the buzzer in the fourth quarter at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Asher Knopik (11) shoots in the first quarter against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Reese Ramey (22) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Noah Sonju (23) battles for a rebound with Glacier's Slate Burrington (21) in the fourth quarter at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (4) knocks down a three in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Karley Allen (14) goes to the basket defended by Flathead's Grace Gall (23) in the second half at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lyric Ersland (13) knocks down a three in the second half against Glacier at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Luke Nikunen (12) dives on a loose ball in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) knocks down a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) blocks a shot by Glacier's Karley Allen (14) in the second half at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Liam Ells (2) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Slate Burrington (21) goes to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cazz Rankoski (25) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Glacier High School on Friday, Jan. 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
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