Struggles continue for Braves

How teams coming off heart-breaking losses - like the Flathead Braves experienced Friday night - rebound can be determined in the early stages of the next game.

Hit a few shots and that confidence is right back where it needs to be to compete. Struggle a little bit, and everything can collapse.

The Braves were game early, but a 10-9 lead midway through the first quarter turned into a 20-12 deficit amid an array of missed shots and turnovers, and Butte went on to post a 54-33 win Saturday afternoon.

"Last night obviously took more out of us than I anticipated," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "It was really a tough loss for us (Friday) because it was one that would have been awfully sweet for us."

The pain of losing at the buzzer to Helena Capital carried over to Saturday. The Braves (4-14 overall, 1-9 conference) were never able to generate any kind of rhythm offensively and fell further and further behind despite an adequate defensive effort for most of the game.

"We just couldn't put the ball in the hole when we did have the looks," Febach said. "That's kind of been our story this year - if the ball doesn't go in, it's difficult for us."

Flathead shot just 26 percent from the field, and many of those misses were against stifling zone pressure which in turn limited the number of second-chance opportunities.

"They play such a tough zone with that big kid in the middle, they take things away from us," Febach said. "What happens is you only get so many opportunities and if you don't cash in you're heading the other way on defense."

Bulldogs Todd Hildreth and 6-foot-8 Jeff Edwards clogged up the middle, and with Flathead unable to make jump shots consistently, the Butte zone kept sagging to the middle making it even more difficult for the Braves.

Hildreth was the main option offensively for Butte (12-6, 7-3), especially in the first half when he scored 12 of his game-high 16 points.

"For us, what we like to do is push the tempo a little bit," Febach said. "We try to get some touches inside then kick it outside. We didn't shoot well enough to get them out of their zone. Offensively we just couldn't put it together consistently."

John Farrier led the Braves with 10 points and eight rebounds. Flathead committed 17 turnovers, many of them coming on the heels of a Bulldog turnover and preventing even a hint of a comeback.

"I know it's been difficult for them, but their attitude and effort has been super and consistent all year long," Febach said of his players. "We have two regular season games left and a playoff game with somebody, and now we're going to look at it like this is our mini tournament."

Flathead is at Missoula Sentinel on Thursday before closing out the regular season Saturday versus Missoula Big Sky.

"It's not like it's over for us yet," the coach said. "I know the kids will step on the floor Monday with some energy and we'll get ready for Sentinel.

"We feel like that's a winnable game for us."

BULLDOGS 54, BRAVES 33

Butte 20 12 9 13 - 54

Flathead 12 6 4 11 - 33

Butte - Clint Choquette 3-4 2-3 8, Ryan Pollock 0-0 1-2 1, Matt Paul 2-5 0-0 6, John Lappin 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Burghman 2-5 3-4 8, Matt Esquibel 2-4 0-0 4, Todd Hildreth 7-10 2-4 16, Jeff Edwards 2-5 4-7 8, Mack Hawbaker 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 19-35 13-22 54.

Flathead - Greg Radel 0-2 1-2 1, Beau Watkins 1-5 0-0 3, Sean Riley 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Lister 2-8 0-0 5, Andrew Cavigli 1-2 0-0 2, John Farrier 3-11 4-6 10, Geoff Hogan 2-7 3-4 7, Jason Russell 0-1 2-2 2, Burk Schaible 0-1 0-0 0, Gary Rivers 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 10-39, 10-14 33.

3-point goals-Butte 3-8 (Paul 2-5, Lappin 0-1, Burghman 1-1, Hildreth 0-1), Flathead 3-12 (Radel 0-1, Watkins 1-4, Lister 1-4, Farrier 0-1, Schaible 0-1, Rivers 1-1). Team fouls-Butte 15, Flathead 19. Fouled out-none. Rebounds-Butte 23 (Edwards 4), Flathead 29 (Farrier 8). Turnovers-Butte 10, Flathead 17.