Helena High drops Braves

The Daily Inter Lake

HELENA - The Helena High boys basketball team came out quick Tuesday night and never looked back in handing the Braves their second loss of the season.

Brian Eveans scored 15 points and Grant Fink registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds to help lead the Bengals to a 59-50 Western AA victory.

Helena led 19-9 at the end of the first quarter.

"Right off the bat, we let them loose for a couple of things and we went through a dry spell," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "Credit Helena. Their guards got after us on the perimeter. We had no free looks and it was difficult to get touches inside."

Brock Osweiler ended up with 17 points and 18 rebounds and Geoff Hogan returned from injury to add 15 points and five assists as Flathead out-rebounded the Bengals, 40-35.

The Braves' backcourt even got into it again with seven 3-pointers. Jake Thiesen and Michael Gallagher each nailed two treys.

But while the Braves made only 38 percent of their 50 shots, the Bengals made 43 percent of their 58 shots. On top of that, the Braves went just 5-for-12 from the free-throw line.

The Western AA opening-season loss dropped the Braves to 2-2 overall.

Flathead 9 17 12 12 - 50

Helena 19 13 17 10 - 59

FLATHEAD (2-2, 0-1) - Jake Theisen 2-2 0-1 6, Michael Gallagher 2-4 0-0 6, Danny Salois 0-3 0-0 0, Shay Smithwick-Hann 1-3 0-1 3, Austin Roehl 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Cutler 1-6 0-0 3, Connor Cavigli 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Hawkins 0-1 0-0 0, Brad Huff 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Brock Osweiler 6-12 5-10 17, Geoff Hogan 7-1 0-0 15. Totals 19-50 5-12 50.

HELENA (2-2, 1-0)- Spencer Chamberlain 1-1 0-0 2, Grant Fink 4-11 2-6 10, Derek Herrin 4-10 0-1 8, Reil Cornelius 0-3 0-0 0, Brian Evans 6-13 2-2 15, Brian Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Tom Donnelly 1-4 0-1 3, Steven Foster 3-5 0-2 6, Brian Kessler 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Stubblefield 3-7 3-4 9, Drew Waltee 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 25-58 7-16 59.

3-point goals - Flathead 7 (Theisen 2-2, Gallagher 2-4, Smithwick-Hann 1-3, Cutler 1-4, Hogan 1-8), Helena 2 (Evans 1-5, Donnelly 1-2). Rebounds - Flathead 40 (Osweiler 18), Helena 35 (Fink 11). Assists - Flathead 14 (Hogan 5), Helena 16 (Herrin 6). Total fouls - Flathead 18, Helena 14. Fouled out - none.

Big Sky 54, Bigfork 40

BIGFORK - The score wasn't indicative of how close the winless Vikings played the Class AA Eagles.

Big Sky's McHale Anderson hit two 3-pointers in the final minute of the first half to send the Eagles into halftime with a 26-22 lead and then the Eagles closed the third-quarter on a 6-0 run to extend a six-point lead into a 14-point victory.

"That's two games in a row my kids have played hard," Bigfork coach Jim Epperly said. "We just have to find more ways to score. We're averaging 40 points a game and we've got to get our turnovers down."

Anderson finished with 12 points and BJ O'Neill added 11 in the victory.

Bigfork committed 22 turnovers.

"They pressed most of the time, but a lot of our turnovers were self inflicted," Epperly said. "We've got a young team and sometimes they shoot themselves in the foot by trying to be too quick."

Roland Benedict scored 15 points and Justin Goode added nine in the loss.

"The end of the second and third quarters was the difference," Epperly said. "Other than that, it was pretty even. I can't fault my kids."

The Vikings (0-5) play at Columbia Falls on Thursday.

Big Sky 10 16 12 16 - 54

Bigfork 6 16 4 14 - 40

BIG SKY (4-1) - Steve Tuttle 1 0-2 2, Mike Devlin 6 2-2 14, Justin Montelius 1 0-0 2, Jordan Taylor 1 0-0 2, McHale Anderson 3 4-4 12, Mitch Johnson 1 4-4 6, BJ O'Neill 4 3-6 11, Jordan Featherman 2 1-4 5. Totals 19 14-22 54.

BIGFORK (0-5) - Justin Goode 2 4-4 9, Andrew Whittacker 1 0-0 2, Roland Benedict 5 5-7 15, Brock Boll 2 0-0 5, Jon Light 2 4-6 8, Kainoa Lake 0 0-1 0. Totals 12 13-18 40.

3-point goals - Big Sky 2 (Anderson 2), Bigfork 3 (Goode, Whittacker, Boll). Turnovers - Big Sky 14, Bigfork 22. Rebounds - Big Sky 26, Bigfork 21 (Benedict 6). Total fouls - Big Sky 16, Bigfork 15. Fouled out - none.

Eureka 54, Libby 48

LIBBY - The Eureka high school boys basketball team downed host Libby on Tuesday, pushing its perfect record to 5-0, including 2-0 in Northwestern A play.

"It was a big win for us tonight," said Eureka coach Eric Stang. "The second half was a big grind-it-out fest and both teams fought hard. We made some big plays at the end to seal the deal, but (Libby is) a good team and they certainly gave us everything we could handle."

Clinging to a 49-48 lead, Eureka's Danny Cameron stole the ball from Libby and raced down the court to score on a layup, putting the Lions up by three.

The Loggers (3-1, 1-1) fired a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but the shot missed and Eureka grabbed the rebound.

Clete DeShazer and Isiah Linnell scored the Lions' final three points on free throws.

"Our defense really stepped up and made some big plays," Stang said. "We didn't give them any good looks in the second half."

Eureka led 27-22 at halftime and outscored Libby 11-7 in the fourth quarter.

Linnell paced Eureka with 17 points while Libby's Jim Mee led all scorers with 18.

Eureka 10 17 16 11 - 54

Libby 16 6 19 7 - 48

EUREKA (5-0, 2-0) - Clete DeShazer 2 2-2 7, Zach Richter 0 1-4 1, Tony Boko 1 1-2 4, Danny Cameron 4 0-2 8, John Davis 1 1-1 3, Devon Miller 1 0-1 2, Spencer Sartori 3 0-0 6, Isiah Linnell 6 4-6 17, Travis Harrell 2 0-0 6. Totals 20 9-18 54.

LIBBY (3-1, 1-1) - Zach Rowan 0 0-0 0, Neil Young 0 0-0 0, Kyle Baker 3 2-3 9, Jim Mee 7 1-2 18, Joel Fuller 0 2-2 2, Charley May 5 0-0 11, Nick Broden 2 0-0 4, Rob Carney 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 5-7 48.

3-point goals - Eureka 5 (DeShazer 1, Boko 1, Linnell 1, Harrell 2), Libby 5 (Baker 1, Mee 3, May 1). Total fouls - Eureka 11, Libby 15. Fouled out - none.

Ronan 61, Polson 42

RONAN - Mike Fischer had a near perfect night while scoring 18 points in leading Ronan to its third-straight boys basketball victory.

Fischer missed just one field goal, going 7-for-8. He was 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Moss Tanner followed with 14 points for the Chiefs (3-2, 1-0) and Cameron Barber added 10.

Chris Ogle led Polson with 12 points.

"We didn't play very well in the first half," said Ronan coach John Hollow.

"Seven for 25 from the field, but we stayed in it with defense."

Ronan connected on 24 of 30 field-goal attempts in the final half.

"They shot the lights out in the second half," Hollow said.

Polson 5 15 7 15 - 42

Ronan 9 11 17 24 - 61

Polson - Craig Bagnell 2 0-0 5, John Rausch 3 1-2 8, Chris Ogle 5 1-5 12, Tyler Gordon 4 1-3 9, Ryan Kelley 1 2-4 4, Zach Langston 1 0-0 2, Spencer Sias 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 5-14 42.

Ronan (3-2, 1-0) - Moss Tanner 5 3-5 14, Mike Fischer 7 0-0 18, Makenzy Kelch 1 0-0 2, Jordan St. Clair 2 0-0 5, Gene Adams 3 0-1 6, Nolan Harris 2 0-0 6, Cameron Barber 5 0-0 10. Totals: 25 3-6 61.

3-point goals - Bagnell, Rausch, Ogle; Tanner, Fischer (4), St. Clair, Harris (2). Team fouls - Polson 12, Ronan 16. Fouled out - None.

GIRLS

Big Sky 67, Bigfork 51

MISSOULA - The Bigfork High School girls basketball teams is undefeated no more - thanks to Class AA powerhouse Missoula Big Sky.

Sophomore post Joslyn Tinkle scored 27 points to lead Big Sky to a victory Tuesday over Class A Bigfork.

Guard Brittany Leibenguth added 11 points in the victory.

Hattie Bowen scored 11 points while Alyssa Fierro and Charlene Miller chipped in with 10 and eight points, respectively.

"They jumped on us early," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "They were able to get it inside and were pretty effective. But they had good balance from both guards.

"This was a good learning experience for us."

Bigfork (4-1) hosts Columbia Falls on Friday.

Bigfork 6 11 17 17 - 51

Big Sky 14 11 21 21 - 67

BIGFORK - Hattie Bowen 2 5-6 11, Charlene Miller 3 1-1 8, Avery Vogel 1 2-2 4, Carly Hilley 1 5-5 7, Alyssa Fierro 4 2-6 10, Roxy Thurman 1 2-2 4, Jaylee Haveman 3 1-2 7. Totals 15 18-24 51.

BIG SKY - Joslyn Tinkle 12 3-5 27, Sam Lidstrom 2 0-0 5, Brittany Leibenguth 3 3-5 11, Kelsey Schwenk 1 4-4 7, Lacey Phelan 1 3-4 5, Sara Lustgraaf 3 1-1 7, Haley Davis 2 0-0 5. Totals 24 14-19 67

3-point goals - Bigfork 3 (Bowen 2, Miller 1) Big Sky 5 (Leibenguth 2, Davis 1, Lidstrom 1, Schwank). Fouls - Bigfork 18, Big Sky 21. Fouled out - Hilley, Fierro.