Braaten: We Need To Put Teams Away

Before the District 2B Boy Basketball Tournament even gets going, the regular season conference champion Scotties are in the tourney's Final Four and assured a ticket to Divisional.

But coach Norm Braaten still wants his players, ranked No. 2 in the state, to bring their 'A' game. The killer instinct. That's what he wants to see in the two games – the semifinal and the final – that top seed G-Town is expected to play at District.

It wasn't quite there in the wins over Poplar and Wolf Point last weekend, as convincing as they were.

“We want to play a solid eight quarters (at District),” Braaten told The Courier. “It was never in doubt that we would win when we beat Poplar, and the same with Wolf Point, but we let them come back a bit ...

“I just as soon as bury teams when we get ahead. This game will come back and bite you if you don't take care of the ball. I'm a bit frustrated. We need to keep people down. Don't give them a chance to get back up.”

Still, Braaten said his veteran squad (10-17-1) is “making strides. I like where we're at.”

He said the team is doing a lot with big man Chase Fossum inside. He said the Jakes – Kolstad and Page – are shooting well.

“And Jason (Thibault) is turning it on this time of year,” he said. “That's something we really look forward to.”

At District, Glasgow gets a bye Thursday and opens at 1 p.m. Friday against the winner of the Wolf Point-Poplar game. And if the Scotties win, they'll get rival Malta (7-3, 11-7) in the final unless Harlem (5-5, 9-9) pulls an upset or Plentywood (0-10, 2-16) pulls a miracle.

Braaten's hoping to seeing a lot of Red & White in the stands.

Northern B Divisional begins in two weeks on March 5 in Shelby. Braaten said he'd rather not have the second week off, but his veteran teams “knows how to handle” the days off. He said the extra week could help some players get over minor physical issues, but the team's health is basically good.

Glasgow took care of Poplar, 71- 43, last Friday. Scoring for the Scotties were Page with 19 points, Keil Krumwiede wth 15, Zach Miller with 10, Fossum with 8, Kolstad with 5, Gage Legare with 4,Ethan Etchart and Thibault with 3 each, and Trent Herbert and Luke Breigenzer with 2 each.

Myltin Big Horn led the Indians with 15.

In Saturday's 70-52 victory over Wolf Point, Fossum scored 20 points, Thibault 15, Krumwiede 14, Page 11, Kolstad 8 and Miller 2.

Only Dalton Hafner scored in double digits for the Wolves. He had 15 points.

Scottie Notes

MaxPreps Montana Class B Top 10: 1 Choteau, 2 Glasgow, 3 Bigfork, 4 Columbus, 5 Loyola-Sacred Heart, 6 St. Labre Indian Catholic, 7 Sweet Grass County, 8 Thompson Falls, 9 Shepherd, 10 Jefferson.