Home not so sweet for Bravettes

Flathead's second straight home loss has team 'behind the 8-ball'

After two straight weeks of practice over the holiday break, it's not uncommon for a team to show some rust heading into the season's second half.

But with the way Flathead played in its 2006 opener against Missoula Sentinel, the Bravettes would be wise to stock up on WD-40.

All the problems that plagued the team in their last game in December, namely securing another offensive threat besides senior Holli Hashley, carried right over into Thursday night's game.

First, Flathead had trouble even getting the ball into Hashley - who had just two first-quarter points - then once she got going, no one followed as the Bravettes fell 53-46. It was their second straight home loss in AA play and dropped their overall record to 3-2.

"Teams are scouting us," Flathead coach Dennis Latimer said. "They're telling themselves that if they stop Holli, they can stop us.

"We have to get some other girls to step up."

The Spartans didn't exactly stop Hashley, who scored a team-high 19 points, including 12 in the second and third quarters, but Flathead's next best total was Chaeney Latimer's eight points. Chelsea Vaudt (6 points) had a solid effort off the bench.

"We had some decent efforts tonight, but that was mostly (Sentinel's) JV team from last year, and we beat them pretty easily," coach Latimer said. "We're going to get back to the drawing board."

Sentinel came out from the get-go with an aggressive

full-court press, forcing Flathead into nine first-quarter turnovers. Still, the Bravettes trailed just 10-7 after the opening eight minutes.

Then the Spartans started getting hot from the floor and managed to extend their lead to 26-18 at the half.

Flathead managed to answer right back in the third, as Latimer opened the quarter with the second of her two treys in the contest. Sophomore Meghan O'Connell added another 3-pointer midway through the period to cut the lead to 32-28, and when Hashley connected on her second 3-point play of the quarter, Flathead had its first lead at 33-32.

However, that lead was short-lived. Sentinel snatched momentum right back with a 9-0 run and went into the fourth with a 41-35 advantage.

The Bravettes never drew closer than three points in the final eight minutes, while the Spartans were able to get several easy backdoor layups from junior Lindsay Wimett (game-high 20 points).

"We had to come up and play a little more aggressively to get back into the game and it bit us in the butt," Latimer said. "I'm obviously getting out-coached right now. We're going to have to reevaluate what we're doing."

Prior to the season, Flathead's No. 1 regular season goal was securing a top-2 seed and an automatic berth in the AA state tournament. That goal may have gone by the wayside with Thursday's loss.

"We're behind the 8-ball right now," Latimer said. "At this point, we're probably going to have to play for a top-4 seed and a home playoff game."

Flathead's next game is Saturday in Great Falls against C.M. Russell.

SPARTANS 53, BRAVETTES 46

Missoula Sentinel 10 16 15 12 - 53

Flathead 7 11 17 11 - 46

Missoula Sentinel - Sarah Rott 4 3-4 12, Tiffany Seeberger 1 3-3 5, Meghan Eisenmann 1 0-0 3, Alicia Martin 2 0-0 4, Jessica Mikulski 2 0-0 4, Lindsay Wimett 9 2-3 20, Tiffany Cole 1 3-4 5. Totals: 20 11-14 53.

Flathead - Christina Zorn 1 0-0 3, Chaeney Latimer 2 2-3 8, Kendalynn Habel 1 1-1 3, Lindsay Ingram 1 0-0 2, Holli Hashley 7 5-8 19, Meghan O'Connell 1 0-0 3, Chelsea Vaudt 2 2-4 6, Leslie Quay 0 2-4 2. Totals: 15 12-20 46.

3-point goals: Sentinel 2 (Rott, Eisenmann), Flathead 4 (Latimer 2, Zorn, O'Connell). Total fouls: Sentinel 17, Flathead 15. Fouled out: none.