Bravettes cruise by Bulldogs

| February 26, 2006 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

BUTTE - The Flathead High School girls basketball team finished up regular-season action Saturday afternoon with a 42-33 Western AA victory over Butte.

The Bravettes won nine of their final 10 games to place third in league play with an 8-4 mark. Overall, the Bravettes are 15-5.

"We do feel good about it," said FHS coach Dennis Latimer of the team's strong finish.

"We're looking forward to the playoff and going to state. We're excited."

Flathead will host a playoff game either Friday or Saturday with the winner advancing to state. The Bravettes will meet the winner of Tuesday's Helena High/Missoula Hellgate contest.

"We had some good solid play," said Latimer versus Butte.

"We played well defensively. It was a tough night shooting for both teams in the Civic Center."

Holli Hashley led FHS with 11 points. Kendalynn Habel, off the bench, finished with 10.

Flathead outscored Butte 26-16 in the second half, which was the difference in the game. Hashley had seven points during that stretch, Habel six and Megan O'Connell six.

BRAVETTES 42, BULLDOGS 33

Flathead 7 9 14 12 - 42

Butte 6 11 9 7 - 33

Flathead (8-4, 15-5) - Chaeney Latimer 2-6 1-2 7, Lindsay Ingram 2-6 0-0 4, Holli Hashley 3-4 5-6 11, Megan O'Connell 2-6 1-2 6, Chelsea Vaudt 0-3 2-6 2, Leslie Quay 0-0 0-2 0, Annie Braseth 1-3 0-0 2, Kendalynn Habel 3-8 4-8 10, Christina Zorn 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 13-38 13-26 42.

Butte (5-7, 7-13) - Krista Clark 2-3 1-2 5, Savanna Maldonado 1-5 1-2 3, Brianne McClafferty 1-6 1-2 3, Katie Daly 6-9 3-4 15, Joey O'Neill 0-2 0-0 0, Amy Sullivan 1-1 0-0 2, Shelbie Rosa 1-3 0-0 3, Nacyshla Mehring 0-2 0-0 0, Kalli McCloskey 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 12-32 8-12 33.

3-point goals - Flathead 3-13 (Latimer 2-4, O'Connell 1-3, Zorn 0-2, Habel 0-2, Ingram 0-2), Butte 1-2 ( Rosa 1-2). Rebounds - Flathead 26 (Hashley 6), Butte 25 (Daly 7). Assists - Flathead 9 (Ingram 3, O'Connell 3), Butte 10 (Maldonado 4). Steals - Flathead14 (Habel 4), Butte 7 (Clark 2, Maldonado 2). Blocks - Flathead 0, Butte 1 (Daly). Turnovers - Flathead18, Butte 28. Total fouls - Flathead 13, Butte 25. Fouled out - Butte (Clark, Maldonado).