Braves crush Loggers, 70-44

Osweiler plays sparingly, but still dominates

Whoa.

The Class AA Flathead High School boys' basketball team played a great game Saturday night in its home opener and Class A Libby didn't play very well.

The Braves won 70-44 to improve to 2-0. They had the Loggers more than doubled up, 67-30 with five minutes left in the game before the Loggers ended the game on a 14-3 run.

Junior Brock Osweiler had 20 points, nine rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks while playing sparingly in the victory. Senior post Josh Harris looked fantastic, scoring 12 points - on six of eight shooting - while playing sparingly. Senior guard Michael Gallagher didn't shoot all that well, but still finished with 10 points - including two second-half 3-pointers - and four assists. Senior forwards Charlie Dotson and Connor Cavigli each had eight points and four rebounds. Senior guard Jake Thiesen had seven points and three assists while playing sparingly.

All the "playing sparinglies" led to one theme.

"This showed that we can go pretty deep," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "We've got eight seniors and two juniors in our top 10 who all have experience and who all like to compete.

"I wasn't real surprised (by the outcome). What I really liked to see was it took us a little while to get into the flow of the game, but once we got going, everybody made contributions. It was fun to see."

The game was close for four minutes.

Trailing 8-7, the Braves ended the first quarter on a 15-5 run as Osweiler took over and Harris - an all-state defensive end - flexed some finesse. The Braves managed to get out in their full-court game with Osweiler scoring nine of his points in a two-minute span in the latter half of the first quarter. The 6-foot-5 Harris finished the first with two straight buckets and started the second quarter with a put-back.

"I was really impressed with the big kid - Josh Harris," Libby coach Wally Winslow said. "He's got tremendous feet and a wide body in the post. That's good coaching. Sure he's a great athlete, but that's good coaching to get those kids to frame up on the posts like that."

The Braves made 63 percent of their inside shots and finished with a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

The Loggers, on the other hand, didn't shoot well. They made just 31 percent of their shots. All-stater Jim Mee made just three of 17 shots (18 percent) before the fourth quarter. He also made just three of six free throws.

The teams' turnovers were almost equal, 18-16.

The Braves mixed their defenses up all game, making Mee shoot from way beyond the arc 11 times.

"The thing that they did was they are so athletic that they can push you out," Winslow said. "Then, when you have size, it's easy to extend because then if something does go inside, you're still OK."

Mee still finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Zach Rowan had 11 points. Senior post Jordan Gragert added eight points with three rebounds.

"It was great to play a game like this because the level of play and the intensity goes up - that's the way Class AA plays every day," Winslow said. "This got our kids' attention. It was good to play these guys early in the season. This game was still enjoyable because Coach Febach and these kids here are such class acts. We learned a lot."

The Loggers dropped to 2-2 on the season. They are back in action Saturday at home against Eureka.

The Braves get into a Class AA game Thursday at home with a nonconference tilt against Great Falls High, starting at 6:30 p.m. It is a time change from the original schedule.

Libby 13 7 8 16 - 44

Flathead 22 17 20 11 - 70

LIBBY (2-2) - Zach Rowan 3-10 3-4 11, Conner Benson 0-3 2-6 2, TJ Benson 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Puckett 0-0 0-0 0, Jim Mee 5-20 3-6 17, Charlie White 0-3 0-0 0, Colton Cannon 0-1 0-0 0, Bryan Cooper 2-3 0-0 4, Kelly May 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan Gragert 4-7 0-4 8. Totals 15-48 8-20 44.

FLATHEAD (2-0) - Jake Thiesen 3-8 0-0 7, Sam Tedrow 1-2 0-0 3, Michael Gallagher 4-12 0-0 10, Danny Salois 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Roehl 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Bouley 0-1 0-0 0, Charlie Dotson 4-6 0-3 8, Connor Cavigli 3-6 2-3 8, Coltin Hoffenbacker 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Harris 6-8 0-0 12, Brock Osweiler 9-14 2-2 20. Totals 31-61 4-8 70.

3-point goals - Lib. 5-19 (Mee 3-11, Rowan 2-5), FHS 4-18 (Gallagher 2-7, Tedrow 1-1, Thiesen 1-6). Rebounds - Lib. 29 (Mee 8, Cooper 6, team 5, Gragert 3, three with 2, one with 1), FHS 39 (Osweiler 9, Roehl 5, Harris 4, Cavigli 4, Dotson 4, Tedrow 3, Hoffenbacker 3, team 3, two with 2). Assists - Lib. 9 (Rowan 2, Mee 2, May 2, three with 2), FHS 19 (Salois 4, Gallagher 4, Thiesen 3, Osweiler 3, Dotson 2, Cavigli 2, three with 1). Steals - Lib. 8 (Rowan 2, C. Benson 2, Cooper 2, two with 1), FHS 8 (Osweiler 5, three with 1). Blocks - Lib. 0, FHS 4 (Osweiler 2, Harris 1, Cavigli 1). Turnovers - Lib. 18, FHS 16. Total Fouls - Lib. 9, FHS 16. Fouled out - none.