Prep Basketball: Great Falls High boys defeat West

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster deal for the Great Falls High boys’ basketball team this season.

Now the Bison are just plain on a roll.

“Through the season we’ve had our ups and downs, but it seems like we’re just jelling right now and coming together,” said Lester Johnson, who scored 18 points Saturday as the Bison defeated highly regarded Billings West 86-73 before a few thousand pleased supporters at Swarthout Fieldhouse.

“We have people who can score inside and out,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to be hard to beat.”

That’s certainly been the case lately.

A week ago, Great Falls High went to Billings and knocked off Eastern AA champion Billings Skyview. Saturday’s triumph over a West team that had only two previous losses was Great Falls High’s second in as many days at Swarthout.

Matt Wyman scored 25 points, several on pretty glides to the hoop, and Brendan Howard worked diligently inside against the physical Bears for 21 points and double-digit rebounds. Long-range snipers Lukas Vining and Jake Wetzel, meanwhile, combined for 22 points as the balanced Bison dominated the final five minutes to win going away.

“I’m very happy with the way we played,” said Bison coach Bob Howard. “We shared the ball and had people put the ball in the basket. And at crunch time we got some stops.”

Billings West, which finished 9-3 in Eastern AA play and 17-3 overall, got 33 points from senior star Jared Samuelson, a 6-6 standout and son of former Montana Grizzly great Shawn Samuelson.

“It’s always fun playing West, because we’ve always battled them growing up,” said Johnson. “Jared Samuelson’s a great ballplayer. Dan Betcher’s a great ballplayer. It’s fun to come out here and compete against them.”

With five minutes to play, the score was tied at 63. Then Wyman scored inside. And following a Brendan Howard steal Johnson drained a 3-pointer from the corner.

“It was a great dish from Matt,” Johnson said. “Everybody collapses on him and he dished it out. He gets us great looks.”

After Betcher missed a left-handed leaner, Wyman converted two foul shots.

The board-crashing Bears misfired twice at the other end and had possession when, with 4:30 to play, West coach Kerry Darragh was whistled for a technical foul.

Johnson drained a trey moments later, then after a West turnover added two foul shots to cap a 12-0 run that effectively decided the game.

The Bears had led most of the way previously, though not by more than five.

“We played with them for awhile,” said West coach Kelly Darragh, the former C.M. Russell High star all-around athlete. “And the technical wasn’t very smart … “My boys were ready to play. They just played a little better than we did.”

The Bison (8-4, 13-7) scored 30 points in the fourth quarter.

“We were attacking the rim,” said Wyman. “We didn’t get a lot of stops there for awhile. It was back and forth like a boxing match. But we made most of our shots down the stretch.”

Samuelson, a big man with a soft shooting touch, scored early and often in the first half as the Bison played what at times looked like the NBA All-Star Game variety of defense.

“They run a lot picks and they’re big guys,” Johnson said. “So when get hit with those picks it’s hard to recover and know where your guy went. And then you see him under the basket scoring.”

But that didn’t happen in the last five minutes.

Howard, the super sophomore who threw down his first career dunk in the first half, had big moments at both ends from start to finish.

“I want to play hard every game, and it gives me a little extra motivation to play against a good team like West,” he said. “I always look forward to playing against Skyview, West or Hellgate. And go extra hard.”

While West turned it over several times down the stretch, the Bison offense was looking sharp.

“We were patient on offense,” Brendan Howard said. “We passed on some good shots and got great shots.”

Said Bob Howard: “We had a tough time rebounding once in awhile, but we hung in there. We spread them out a little bit and Matt got to the rim a few times. Had some huge 3-pointers from Lukas and Jake, and Brendan provided some post moves and rebounds.

“For us it was a well-rounded game.”

Great Falls High will play host to a playoff game this week against Billings Senior. Gary DeGooyer, athletic director for Great Falls public schools, said the Bison girls will also play host to Senior and that he anticipates staging a doubleheader at Swarthout Fieldhouse. The date and times were not finalized Saturday night.

No matter when they play next, it appears as if the Bison are ready to roll.

“Going into the playoff game and State, that’s when you want to be playing your best basketball,” Wyman said. “That’s what we’ve said all year, you want to be playing your best at the end of the season. And I really think we are right now.”