Chris Jordan/Daily Inter Lake

Poise.

Flathead had a lot of it when it mattered the most - when the game was on the line.

Flathead's steady free throw shooting in the final minutes of play Thursday evening allowed the Braves to hold off a determined Whitefish team, 74-67.

The Braves connected on eight of nine foul shots to thwart a wild and furious comeback by the Bulldogs.

Flathead, now 1-2 on the season, appeared to have the game in hand, leading by 21 points, 52-31, thanks to a 7-0 run to start the second half.

But Whitefish was sparked by back-to-back treys by Luke Fennelly. One was turned into a four-point play as he was fouled and converted the free throw.

That helped Whitefish put together a 11-2 run to trim the deficit to 12, 54-42.

The Bulldogs rattled off another spurt, outscoring FHS 14-2 to open the final frame to get within four points, down 64-60. But that was as close as they could get.

Flathead's Jordan Lister hit three-of-four free throws, John Farrier was perfect on two and Andrew Cavigli hit three-for-three at the line and added a field goal to complete Flathead's scoring.

The Braves led 72-64 with a minute to play when Cavigli made an easy shot inside, was fouled, and made the free throw.

"Credit my kids," said a pleased Flathead coach Fred Febach.

"They played hard. One thing for sure, we'll always keep it interesting."

Flathead had good balance on offense with four players in double figures. Jeremy DeHerrera, off the bench, led with 15. Farrier and Beau Watkins both tallied 13 and Cavigli added 11.

Whitefish's Mike McCracken and Fennelly shared game-high scoring honors with 16 apiece. McCracken exploded for 11 points in the final frame.

Philip Bertelsen added 14 for WHS.

"I feel good about the way we played at the end," said WHS coach Derek Schulz.

"Our team took a big step forward tonight."

Both teams finished with 29 rebounds in the contest with Farrier and Geoff Hogan leading Flathead with eight and seven, respectively.

Turnovers favored Flathead, 19-15.

Farrier also led in assists, three, while DeHerrera claimed six of Flathead's 15 steals.

For the game, Flathead was 26 of 62 shooting to 23 of 48 for Whitefish.

"We hit a stretch there where we were pretty inconsistent," said Febach.

"But you have to give Whitefish credit for that. They changed the game a little bit. We made some poor decisions, some poor passes (because of their pressure)."

Flathead continues with nonconference play tonight at Columbia Falls, 6 p.m.

Whitefish is back in action Tuesday at Libby.

BRAVES 74, BULLDOGS 67

Whitefish 12 19 15 21 - 67

Flathead 19 24 19 12 - 74

Whitefish - Sam Penzi 3 0-0 6, Bowman 0 4-4 4, Luke Fennelly 5 4-5 16, Jake Cummings 1 0-0 2, Bryan Wram 0 2-2 2, Philip Bertelsen 4 5-8 14, Cody Idol 3 1-1 7, Mike McCracken 7 2-5 16. Totals: 23 18-25 67.

Flathead - Beau Watkins 6 1-2 13, Sean Riley 0 1-2 1, Jordan Lister 2 3-4 7, Jeremy DeHerrera 4 5-7 15, Stefan Malkuch 2 2-2 6, Andrew Cavigli 4 3-3 11, John Farrier 4 5-6 13, Goeff Hogan 4 0-1 8. Totals: 26 20-27 74.

3-point goals: Fennelly (2); DeHerrera (2). Team fouls: Whitefish 24, Flathead 26. Fouled out: None.