Bravettes ready for heated battle

Coaches talk all the time about their teams peaking at the right time. But it's not just talk for Flathead's Dennis Latimer.

With the Bravettes' 47-34 win over Helena High last Saturday, the team enters today's Class AA state tournament having won 13 of their last 15 games. It certainly comes as a welcome change from the inconsistency that plagued Flathead in December and January.

"We had to find out what our strengths and weaknesses were, and then we were able to settle into a nine-girl rotation," Latimer said. "The girls were really able to rally around each other."

It also helped that several girls were able to step up and provide a scoring punch alongside senior Holli Hashley, who led the team with more than 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals per game.

"The neat thing about our team is that anyone can step up and be that sidekick that we need," Latimer said.

From the improved inside play of 6-foot junior Chelsea Vaudt (5.6 points, 5.4 rebounds per game), to the outside attack of juniors Chaeney Latimer (7.3 points, team-best 26 3-pointers) and Lindsay Ingram (6 points per game), and sophomore Meghan O'Connell (6.5 points, 3.7 assists, 2 steals per game), the Bravettes have been able to bombard the opposition with a balanced offensive attack.

"The outside shooting has really been a plus for us lately," Latimer said. "We've been able to get some consistent 3-pointers."

Having weathered nearly every storm Western AA has to offer, the Bravettes will face a new challenge from Bozeman High in the opening round, today at 9 a.m. at the Butte Civic Center.

"We're going into a buzzsaw against Bozeman," Latimer said. "They're going to pressure us the entire game.

"We have to stay in the kitchen, even if it gets hot."

Bozeman, the East's No. 2 seed, features a pair of double-digit scorers in senior Amanda Murdoch (10.1 ppg, 2.8 spg) and 6-1 sophomore Jeni Guertin (10.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg), as well as a dependable supporting cast - including juniors Leslie Saunders (6.3 ppg) and Abbey Schmaltz (7.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg), and 6-1 sophomore Kirsten Tilleman (8.7 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.9 spg).

"They have some nice size," Latimer said. "Certainly more than we've seen."

Though Flathead is the underdog, Latimer knows anything is possible.

"We talked at practice [on Tuesday], and the girls have to believe that they can win," Latimer said. "Anything can happen at state, otherwise we wouldn't go."

Class AA

At Butte

Today

9 a.m. - Flathead (16-5) vs. Bozeman (17-3)

Noon - Missoula Big Sky (14-6) vs. Billings West (10-11)

4 p.m. - Great Falls (13-8) vs. Missoula Sentinel (13-7)

7 p.m. - Great Falls Russell (17-3) vs. Butte (8-13)