Big Sky bumps Flathead

The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - Missoula Big Sky jumped out to a 15-2 lead, but still had to hold off Flathead down the stretch to collect a 67-62 Western AA boys basketball victory Friday night.

The loss was the third straight for the Braves (6-4 and 12-6).

McHale Anderson hit four treys in the opening quarter to push Big Sky (5-5 and 9-9) out quickly. He finished with a game-high 22 points.

Big Sky had eight treys in the opening half.

"We just could not get the lead in the second half," said FHS coach Fred Febach.

"We'd close to two to three points a couple of times, but just could not close it to even."

Brock Osweiler led Flathead with 21 points. Jeremy DeHerrera finished with 17 and Geoff Hogan had 14.

Flathead has two league contests left to close out the regular season - Thursday at home with Helena Capital and next Saturday at Butte.

"Right now, it's a struggle for us," said Febach.

"Our third loss in a row. We have to hang together and get it done."

EAGLES 67, BRAVES 62

Flathead 13 12 14 23 - 62

Big Sky 18 12 17 20 - 67

Flathead (6-4, 12-6) - Jason Russell 2-3 0-0 4, Geoff Hogan 78-10 0-1 14, Brock Osweiler 7-11 7-10 21, Beau Watkins 0-2 2-2 2, Jeremy DeHerrera 5-12 5-7 17, Ryan Gragg 0-1 0-0 0, Burk Schaible 1-2 2-2 4, Gary Rivers 0-1 0-1 0, Mack Andrews 0-2 0-0 0, Richard Boggs 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Cutler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-45 16-23 62.

Missoula Big Sky (5-5, 9-9) - Paul Morris 5-9 3-3 15, McHale Anderson 7-12 4-10 22, B.J. O'Neill 1-3 1-2 3, Steve Tuttle 4-7 3-4 13, Ty Owens 1-1 1-2 3, Blayne Larson 1-2 0-1 3, Mitch Johnson 2-2 3-4 7, Jordan Featherman 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 21-38 16-27 67.

3-point goals - Flathead 2-13 (DeHerrera 2-6), Big Sky 9-15 (Anderson 4-7, Morris 2-3, Tuttle 2-4, Larson 1-1). Fouls - Flathead 23, Big Sky 18. Fouled out - DeHerrera. Rebounds - Flathead 31 (Osweiler 9, Hogan 6), Big Sky 19 (Anderson 7). Turnovers - Flathead 17, Big Sky 12.

Eureka boys stay alive in 8-B tourney

RONAN - Eureka stayed alive in the District 8-B boys basketball tournament on Friday with a 58-48 victory over Arlee.

Isiah Linnell scored 25 points, 14 in the final half, to pace the Lions (11-9).

Zach Richter tallied 11 points for Eureka.

Billy Hitchcock topped Arlee (11-10) in scoring with 14 points.

Eureka advances to today's consolation final at 2:30 p.m.

The top four teams advance to the Western B Divisional.

LIONS 58, WARRIORS 48

Eureka 13 18 12 15 - 58

Arlee 11 8 16 13 - 48

Eureka - Isiah Linnell 7 8-12 25, Zach White 2 1-2 5, Zach Richter 4 3-8 11, Nick Zarnowski 2 1-2 6, Danny Cameron 2 0-0 4, Clete DeShazer 0 1-2 1, Jordan Lundberg 1 0-0 2, Jay Roberts 2 0-0 4, John Davis 0 0-0 0, Devon Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 14-26 58.

Arlee - Blake Koemans 4 2-3 10, Gus Azure 1 0-0 2, Billy Hitchcock 6 2-4 14, Sean Mesteth 0 0-0 0, Matt Baker 4 2-4 11, Buddy Hietala 1 0-1 2, Iain Hogan 3 1-1 9. Totals 19 7-15 48.

3-point goals - Eureka 4 (Linnell 3, Zarnowski), Arlee 3 (Hogan 2, Baker). Fouls - Eureka 18, Arlee 19.

Whitefish downs Ronan

WHITEFISH - The Whitefish Lady Bulldogs have now rung up six opponents in row, including Friday night's 58-48 win over Ronan in the

Northwestern A matchup.

The win solidifies Whitefish's No. 2 slot and gives them a first-round bye for the upcoming divisional tournament.

Ronan was down by just two points heading into halftime, but Whitefish went off in the third, outscoring the Maidens 19-7.

"We got off to a slow start," Whitefish assistant coach Jeremy Anderson said. "Their press hurt us early, but we regrouped at half and came out strong."

The Bulldogs also ran numerous defensive schemes that kept Ronan guessing. The tactic worked and led to easy buckets off the press.

Ashley Ferda led Whitefish with a game-high 19 points, followed by Ronan's Shayla Coture's 17.

Tracy Schwada also pulled down 13 rebounds for WHS.

Bulldogs 58, Maidens 48

Ronan 13 9 7 19 - 48

Whitefish 14 10 19 15 - 58

Ronan - Holli Oakland 2 3-3 8, Lauren Lynch 2 4-6 8, Shayla Coture 4 5-7 17, Kelly McMillan 5 0-0 10, Bethany Costa 1 0-0 2, Carly Starkel 1 0-0 3. 15 12-16 48.

Whitefish - Kirsten NallyMadigan 1 0-0 3, Kirstin Blackburn 2 2-2 6, Ashley Ferda 8 1-2 19, Kaylee Schmidt 1 0-0 2, Des Clark 3 0-0 6, Dana Labuda 1 0-0 3, Tracy Schwada 4 1-1 9, Erin Greiner 5 0-3 10. 23 4-11 58.

3-point totals R 6, W 4. Total fouls: 11, W 15. Fouled out: none.