Crosstown: Pack boys hold on, Bravettes win big
JON ALLEN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 hours, 23 minutes AGO
Glacier's Carter Knopik (42) drives to the basket between Flathead defenders Reese Brotherton (23) and Eli Coopman (4) in the first half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lexi Herion (33) knocks down a jumper in the lane in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) blocks a shot by Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) in the first half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Hunter Fann (15) drives to the basket guarded by Glacier's Carter Knopik (42) in the second half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Lucy Holloway (12) draws a foul as she drives to the basket guarded by Flathead's Grace Gall (23) and Brynn Kossman (22) in the first half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (2) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Reese Rosenberg (0) drives into the lane for a shot in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Ben Reichner (11) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) shoots a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Hudson Kastelitz (5) shoots in the paint in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Caitlin Converse (13) knocks down a shot in the lane in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Boston Case (24) drives into the lane for a shot against Glacier in the second half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Nika Wangerin (3) drives into the lane for a shot in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Kyler Kossman (34) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Lucy Holloway (12) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Brynn Kossman (22) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (2) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) knocks down a three in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Carter Knopik (42) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Liam Rech (21) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lexi Herion (33) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Dylan Banzet (40) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Teagan Flint (5) looks for a shot in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Reese Rosenberg (0) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
The Braves gave the Wolfpack everything they had, but in the end Glacier escaped Flathead in Crosstown boys basketball Friday at Flathead High School.
In the opener to the doubleheader, the Bravettes put on an offensive clinic to take down their rival.
Glacier knocked down 11 free throws in the final quarter as it picked up a 54-52 victory over Flathead.
Ben Reichner had a chance to tie the game at the line with four seconds left but went 2 of 3 before Asher Knopik made it a two-point game with a free throw at the other end. Hunter Fann’s heave at the horn came up short for the Braves, who fell to 1-8 overall and 0-5 in Western AA games. Glacier sits at 4-6 overall and 1-4 in conference.
“It was a really fun night of basketball for Kalispell and I thought both teams left it all on the floor and in the end we just made a few more plays,” Glacier coach Evan Epperly said.
As for the girls, freshman Lexi Herion scored 19 points and Flathead jumped all over the Wolfpack in a 65-30 victory.
Flathead took a 19-9 advantage out of the first quarter and never looked back.
“I thought we got off to a really good start, just handling the emotion of the moment,” Bravettes coach Kaylee Fox said. “A lot of kids with not a ton of Crosstown experience that got a lot of minutes.”
Glacier boys 54, Flathead 52
The Wolfpack surged ahead early as Cooper Pelc opened the game with three quick points and Glacier held a 6-0 lead in the opening three minutes.
Fann and the Braves found little footing in the early frames and after Pelc beat the buzzer in the first it was 14-5 Glacier.
“We started hot, we started with a lot of energy and ran the court really well,” Pelc said. “We shot free throws really well, but then I think the gym just got to us a little bit. This is my favorite gym to play in, it’s pretty chaotic, especially if it’s Crosstown. I think that got to us a little bit and we started speeding things up, but our leaders did a good job at the end of the game just keeping us composed.”
The Wolfpack threatened to run away with this one as Pelc and Ethan Kastelitz knocked down back-to-back triples and used an 8-0 run to take a 22-9 lead.
Pelc finished with 22 points; Kastelitz had six.
The Braves answered back before the half as Eli Coopman hit a pair of threes to cut the deficit to 24-17. Kastelitz made another three ball to make it 27-17 at the break.
Glacier appeared to have every answer Friday night as each time Flathead cut the deficit down to five, a well-timed spurt would grow the lead back to double-digits.
Though Fann knocked down a late basket in the third to make it 41-36 Wolfpack heading to the final eight minutes. Fann finished the night with 10 points.
Knopik hit an early shot in the frame for Glacier to make it 43-38 early in the fourth quarter, but that was the final field goal for the Wolfpack, who lived at the free throw line.
Glacier shot 27 of 42 from the charity stripe, while Flathead was 6 of 11.
“We want to put pressure on the rim and we want to make the refs make calls and get to the line as much as we can,” Epperly said. “I thought our guys were aggressive attacking the rim, it was physical. They played through a lot of contact.”
Trailing 51-45 with one minute left, Lance Schneller got inside for a bucket. After four straight Wolfpack misses from the line, Boston Case cut the deficit to 51-50 with a three from the right corner with nine seconds left. Case led the Braves with 14 points.
Carter Knopik restored a three-point lead before the Wolfpack fouled Reichner on a half-court shot with four ticks on the clock. He made the first two before catching front rim on the last.
“These guys are resilient,” Braves coach Dan Trageser said. “They never think they are out of a game. They are never going to give up ... Ben is the leader of this team, he is the heartbeat of this team and I know he is beating himself up over a missed free throw, but I told him I would take him over anyone in the state. I love that kid.”
Asher Knopik was fouled and made the first before missing the second, and Fann put up a shot just before the horn from beyond half-court, but it came up short.
Asher Knopik tallied 11 in the game, while Carter Knopik had 10.
Glacier 14 13 14 13 - 54
Flathead 5 12 19 16 - 52
GLACIER — Cooper Pelc 4 12-16 22, Ethan Kastelitz 2 0-0 6, Tate Kahler 0 0-0 0, Hudson Kastelitz 1 1-2 3, Talon Pitts 0 2-2 2, Dylan Banzet 0 0-0 0, Asher Knopik 3 4-9 11, Carter Knopik 1 8-13 10. Totals 11 27-42 54.
FLATHEAD — Eli Coopman 3 1-2 9, Ben Reichner 3 2-3 8, Lance Schneller 3 1-4 7, Hunter Fann 5 0-0 10, Liam Rech 1 0-0 2, Reece Brotherton 0 0-0 0, Boston Case 5 2-2 14, Max Shostak 1 0-0 2, Kyler Kossman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 6-11 52.
3-point goals — Glacier 5 (Pelc 2 E Kastelitz 2, A Knopik), Flathead 4 (Case 2, Coopman 2). Fouls — Glacier 12, Flathead 23. Fouled out — none.
Flathead girls 65, Glacier 30
The Bravettes (1-8, 1-4) had the height advantage and used it well as Herion scored eight first-quarter points.
“I was so nervous going into it, but the atmosphere helped a lot,” Herion said. “Our team is great, but I feel like us three freshmen (Brynn Kossman and Reese Rosenberg) have really stepped in and made us better.”
Grace Gall joined in the fun in the second frame as she scored eight of her 14 points, and the Bravettes put together a 15-3 run to start the quarter.
Lucy Holloway found the basket for the Wolfpack (1-9, 0-5) to stop the run, but the Bravettes still led 38-17 at the half.
The offensive struggles continued for the Wolfpack in the third as they had just four made free throws in the frame.
“Clearly not the game we anticipated tonight,” Wolfpack coach Amanda Cram said. “Coach Fox had an excellent game plan and her girls executed it well ... They are not just lengthy but played physical tonight and defensively we missed some rotations. Despite our size I believe we can defend bigs better in the future.”
Flathead scored 26 points in the third period as Rosenberg and Kossman jumped in on the freshman party. Rosenberg finished with 13 points, while Kossman had eight.
With the clock running in the fourth, Karley Allen — who was held in check most of the night — knocked down a pair of threes and finished the night with 12 points to lead Glacier.
“We have a ton of respect for them (Glacier) as a team and this week we really focused on making sure we defended and especially tried to slow Karley down,” Fox said.
Caitlin Converse made it four Bravettes in double-figures with 10 points.
Glacier 9 8 4 9 - 30
Flathead 19 19 26 1 - 65
GLACIER — Nika Wangerin 1 3-6 5, Addison Brisendine 0 0-0 0, Lucy Holloway 1 0-3 2, Karley Allen 3 4-6 12, Miley Fritz 0 0-0 0, Olivia Ronngren 0 0-0 0, Olivia Warriner 1 3-4 6, Cassidy Daniels 2 0-0 4, Kiera Lindsay 0 1-2 1, Clara Ahner 0 0-0 0, Cadence Daniels 0 0-0 0, Alauna Hagen 0 0-0 0. Totals 8 11-19 30.
FLATHEAD — Reese Rosenberg 4 4-4 13, Layla Loselben 0 0-0 0, Teagen Flint 0 0-0 0, Gracie Mae Kilmer 0 0-0 0, Tayler Greene 0 0-2 0, Caitlin Converse 4 1-4 10, Cheyenne Heino 0 0-0 0, Brynn Kossman 3 2-4 8, Grace Gall 6 0-0 14, Makenna Korf 0 1-2 1, Lexi Herion 8 3-3 19. Totals 25 11-19 65
3-point goals — Glacier 3 (Allen 2, Warriner), Flathead 4 (Gall 2, Converse, Rosenberg). Fouls — Glacier 14, Flathead 15. Fouled out — Allen.
Flathead's Lexi Herion (33) knocks down a jumper in the lane in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) blocks a shot by Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) in the first half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Hunter Fann (15) drives to the basket guarded by Glacier's Carter Knopik (42) in the second half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Lucy Holloway (12) draws a foul as she drives to the basket guarded by Flathead's Grace Gall (23) and Brynn Kossman (22) in the first half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (2) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Reese Rosenberg (0) drives into the lane for a shot in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Ben Reichner (11) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cassidy Daniels (24) shoots a jumper in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Hudson Kastelitz (5) shoots in the paint in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Caitlin Converse (13) knocks down a shot in the lane in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Boston Case (24) drives into the lane for a shot against Glacier in the second half at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Nika Wangerin (3) drives into the lane for a shot in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cooper Pelc (1) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Kyler Kossman (34) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Lucy Holloway (12) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Brynn Kossman (22) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Ethan Kastelitz (2) shoots a three in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Grace Gall (23) knocks down a three in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Carter Knopik (42) drives to the basket in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Liam Rech (21) shoots in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Lexi Herion (33) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Dylan Banzet (40) shoots in the first half against Flathead at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Teagan Flint (5) looks for a shot in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Reese Rosenberg (0) drives to the basket in the second half against Glacier at Flathead High School on Friday, Jan. 23. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
ARTICLES BY JON ALLEN
Crosstown: Pack boys hold on, Bravettes win big
The Braves gave the Wolfpack everything they had, but in the end Glacier escaped Flathead in Crosstown boys basketball Friday at Flathead High School.
Stellar Schneller: Flathead guard having solid senior season
They say a good defense is the best offense and Flathead senior guard Lance Schneller provides the Braves with a defensive spark each time the team takes the court.
Big Sky takes down Braves, Bravettes
The Flathead Braves and Bravettes started strong Thursday, but neither could pull off a victory as the Big Sky Eagles went home to Missoula with a pair of wins in a Western AA boys and girls basketball doubleheader.