Braves bounced at the buzzer
Chris Jordan/Daily Inter Lake<br>Flathead's Geoff Hogan and John Farrier battle for a loose ball with Helena Capital players during the second half of the Braves' 54-53 loss Friday night in Kalispell. The Braves are now 4-13 overall.
y DIXIE KNUTSON
The Daily Inter Lake
Bravettes tripped up in Helena
Dead silence.
Four men sat and stared at their feet in the Flathead Braves team room after Friday's 54-53 loss to Western AA Helena Capital.
Nobody said a word.
What is there to say after a win is dangled under your nose then snatched away when a 5-foot-9 guard drains a 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds left on the clock?
Or after Helena Capital climbs back from a 12-point second half deficit with five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter?
The Braves did almost everything right Friday night - they had four guys in double figures, had 12 steals to six for the Bruins, turned the ball over only 12 times compared to 19 for Capital, dished out nine assists and were 20-for-25 from the free throw line.
"We did everything but win the game," sighed head coach Fred Febach.
"Shoot, what a great effort.
"We've experienced a few of these this year … and this one hurts worse than others," he added. "It hurts big time for me, my kids and my coaches.
"They hit some critical shots in the fourth."
In fact, the Bruins hit three dream shots inside the final minute Friday.
With 1:06 to go, the Braves led 51-45.
Capital forward Drew Miller hit back-to-back treys - one on each side of the court - within a 12-second timespan to knot the score at 51-all with 34 seconds left.
"Those shots by Miller - those were shots we had people up on him," Febach said.
Beau Watkins gave the Braves a 53-51 lead with 8.6 seconds left on a pair of free throws.
"They found that open guy in the corner (senior Clayton Goodhart) and he flat buried it. That's a dream for a player to hit a shot like that," Febach said.
Jordan Lister led the Flathead scoring effort with 13 points, followed by Andrew Cavigli with 11 and John Farrier and Watkins scored 10 each. Geoff Hogan and Lister had four rebounds each and Hogan had four steals as well.
Flathead (1-8, 4-13) can't dwell on this for long. The Butte Bulldogs are in town. Varsity game time for the boys is 3 p.m.
"We've got to get up and play well. Play every bit as well," Febach said.
BRUINS 54, BRAVES 53
Helena Capital 12 6 14 22 - 54
Flathead 14 14 8 17 - 53
Helena Capital - Clayton Goodhart 3 0-0 9, Dustin O'Connell 4 1-2 9, Ryan Wilson 4 1-4 9, Drew Miller 5 0-0 13, David Ames 2 3-3 7, David Sebastian 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 6-11 54.
Flathead - Greg Radel 1 0-0 3, Beau Watkins 2 6-6 10, Ryan Gregg 1 0-0 2, Jordan Lister 3 7-8 13, Andrew Cavigli 4 3-4 11, John Farrier 4 2-2 10, Geoff Hogan 1 2-5 4. Totals 16 20-25 53.
3-point goals: Helena Capital 6 (Goodhart 3, Miller 3), Flathead 1 (Radel). Total fouls: Helena Capital 23, Flathead 16. Fouled out: Devin Sullivan, Dustin O'Connell, John Farrier. Rebounds: Helena Capital 22, Flathead 18. Steals: Helena Capital 6, Flathead 12, Turnovers: Helena Capital 19, Flathead 12. Assists: Helena Capital 6, Flathead 9.
Bruins 48, Bravettes 39
HELENA - The Helena Capital Bruins used the long ball to pull away from Flathead for a 48-39 win on Friday. The Bruins drained six 3-pointers on the night.
Lindsay Bennett led the Bravettes (10-6 overall, 6-3 league) with 12 points and Holli Hashley added 11.
"Capital shot really well," Flathead coach Dennis Latimer said. "Our girls played hard, it came down to them hitting all those 3s.
"It was about a five-point game with two minutes left, they went into a stall so we had to foul, and they hit their free throws."
Flathead dropped into a second-place tie with Capital, a half-game behind Western AA leader Missoula Sentinel.
BRUINS 48, BRAVETTES 39
Flathead 12 11 6 10 - 39
Helena Capital 12 11 10 15 - 48
Flathead - Christina Zorn 1 0-0 2, Chaeney Latimer 1 3-5 5, Amanda Lidstrom 2 0-0 4, Holli Hashley 4 3-5 11, Meghan O'Connell 1 3-4 5, Lindsay Bennett 6 0-1 12. Totals 15 6-10 39.
Helena Capital - Bobbie Allard 4 0-0 12, Veronica Krings 0 2-3 2, Katie Beall 1 2-2 4, Shannon George 2 0-0 4, Danika Kiesling 3 3-3 9, Lindsay Trenary 2 0-0 6, Christina Smetana 5 1-2 11. Totals 17 8-10 48.
3-point goals- Flathead 0, Helena Capital 6 (Allard 4, Trenary 2), Team fouls-Flathead 14, Capital 14. Fouled out-George, Smetana.