G-Town Bound For Divisional After Beating Malta For The Title
BY JIM ORR
THE COURIER
The Scotties came through as expected at the District 2B Basketball Tournament at Wolf Point. They brought the title home to G-Town.
Now GHS is on a collision course to a heavyweight Divisional championship showdown against Choteau in a couple of weekends if the games unfold as expected. Choteau is ranked first and Glasgow second in Montana Class B.
At the Wolves Den last weekend, the top-seeded, 19-1 Scotties did away with surprise opponent Poplar, 75-29, in the semifinal and outlasted their hard-playing rivals from Malta, 53-43, in the final.
"You know, as a coach you think they're capable of that," Norm Braaten said of his squad's showing against Malta. "They did it methodically and pulled away at the end. Malta's a very good team. They tested us. But our talent came through at the end. The stars shined."
Glasgow improved its shooting in field goal range from 6 of 19 (31 percent) in the first half to 13 of 27 (48 percent) in the second.
Braaten's said his boys pleased him, from floor general Jason Thibault stepping it up to Gage Legare coming off the bench to push Malta standout Allen Williamson. He said Thibault "proved he's one of the best point guards in the division, if not the state."
Thibault led the attack on the court and the scoreboard for Glasgow. He was 5 for 8 from 2-point range, 2 of 3 behind the arc, and 2 of 4 at the line for 18 points. Also scoring for the balanced Scotties were Jake Page with 9 points, Chase Fossum and Jake Kolstad with 8 each, Keil Krumwiede with 6 and Legare with 4.
Williamson had 18 points, Jeremy Costin 12 and Nate Costin 11 to account for the lion's share of Malta's scoring. The Mustangs hustled all game and enjoyed spurts of success inside.
Poplar earned the date with Glasgow in the semifinals by upsetting Wolf Point, which was state-ranked early in the year but fell apart and saw its season end at District on its home court.
The Indians were no match for GHS. The Scotties did what Braaten wants them to do, put away a team early. By doing so, all 12 Scotties who dressed saw floor time.
Fossum, who Braaten commended for playing "big" at District, led Glasgow with 16 points against Poplar. Also scoring were Krumwiede with 13, Kolstad 10, Page 9, Zach Miller 7, Thibault 6, Ethan Etchart 6, Chase Hughes 6 and Trent Hebert 2.
Myltin Bighorn and Coy Atkinson led Poplar with 6 points each.
Advancing from 2B to Divisionals at Shelby are Glasgow, Malta, Harlem and Plentywood. Rounding out the eight-team field from out West are Choteau, Fairfield, Shelby and Rocky Boy.
Glasgow opens with Rocky Boy next Thursday, then faces the Harlem-Fairfield winner Friday. Choteau (20-0) opens with Plentywood, then faces the Shelby-Malta winner. And if the two favorites advance, its Glasgow vs. Choteau for the Divisional championship at 8 p.m. Saturday.
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