Braves rip Bison by 23

Osweiler gets 27 points, 18 rebounds, six steals, four blocks

The Flathead High School boys' basketball team is for real.

In its first game against a Class AA opponent, the Braves beat Great Falls High by 23 points, 86-63, Thursday night in the FHS gym.

Brock Osweiler asserted his dominance against the team that beat the Braves by 18 points last season. The 6-foot-8 junior had 27 points, 18 rebounds, six steals, four blocks and three assists.

"We've got a bad taste in our mouths from last year," Osweiler said. "Once the season was done, I don't think some of us wasted two weeks before we got back into the gym and worked on speed, athleticism and shooting."

That hard work is starting to pay dividends.

Senior post Josh Harris had 12 points, on 8-for-10 free-throw shooting. Senior guard Jake Thiesen hit three 3-pointers en route to 11 points. And three players added nine points apiece - Michael Gallagher, Danny Salois and Connor Cavigli - to improve the Braves to 3-0.

Both teams came out in man-to-man defenses and exchanged six leads in the first quarter. The Braves got a little cushion with six straight points from Osweiler - four of which came from the free-throw line - and then went into a 2-3 zone on defense and extended their lead throughout the game.

"They handled our pressure well, so we dropped back into a zone to shut down their inside scoring and made them shoot threes," Osweiler said. "Give them credit, they hit some early."

The Bison hit a buzzer-beating trey to end the first quarter to put the game at 20-17, and hit four more from beyond the arc in the second quarter. But the full-court, running Braves extended their lead to as much as 17 points before halftime.

"We went zone because we felt they couldn't shoot the ball very well," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "We left them open a couple of times and they hurt us. But once we extended a little bit and got more aggressive, they had difficulty making shots. They tried to drive a couple of times, but man, we've got some size in there that makes it tough to drive against."

Ahead by 12 points entering the third quarter, the Braves went on an 23-6 run that lasted into the fourth.

"The kids talked amongst themselves before we came in the locker room for halftime and discussed what it was they needed to get done," Febach said. "They came up with a couple of things: First, don't bail them out with fouls, and second, let's be more solid defensively. They took charge and I really like how we extended our cushion."

While Osweiler said this year's Braves are more defensive minded, Great Falls coach Bob Howard said it was the full-court athleticism of the Braves that his boys couldn't keep up with.

"It wasn't so much their zone, which slowed us down a little bit, but we started giving them a lot of quick, easy baskets," Howard said. "They started getting them on their own by crashing the boards and then we'd put them on the free-throw line quite a bit. It was just frustrating to not score yourself when the other team got up and down the floor very well. They are solid and they sure get up and down the floor.

"They are pretty athletic and fast, which they have been for the past three years. We really don't have anybody right now that can stay with them. We were just overmatched and got beat by a good team."

The Braves made 50 percent of their shots. They forced 21 turnovers while committing just eight through the first three quarters. They finished with a 40-31 rebounding advantage and garnered 17 steals and 18 assists. Nine players hit the scoring column.

"We've got some kids that we can bring off the bench and there really isn't a drop off," Febach said. "In some instances we are even quicker with kids off the bench."

Salois added six assists and six steals to his nine points. Austin Roehl was second on the team with seven rebounds.

Great Falls was paced by 6-2 sophomore Austin Heavyrunner. He went 2-for-3 from 3-point range and had 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior Kevin Semmens, a 6-8 post, had nine points and eight rebounds before fouling out. The Bison dropped to 1-2.

The Braves are back in action tonight in Coeur d'Alene against Lake City High School. Febach said it is going to be a great matchup of big, physical kids.

Great Falls 17 18 6 22 - 63

Flathead 20 27 18 21 - 86

GREAT FALLS (1-2) - Logan Hodke 1-2 0-0 3, Mani Stubbs 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Heavyrunner 3-11 1-2 8, Cory Jackson 1-3 0-0 3, Josh Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Reid Tramelli 4-8 0-0 9, Matt Winkler 3-6 5-11 12, Brad Huber 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Heavyrunner 6-8 1-2 15, Andrew Hafliger 1-5 0-0 2, Kevin Semmens 4-7 1-4 9. Totals 24-52 8-19 63.

FLATHEAD (3-0) - Jake Thiesen 3-8 2-2 11, Sam Tedrow 1-1 0-2 2, Michael Gallagher 3-9 2-2 9, Danny Salois 3-9 2-4 9, Austin Roehl 1-3 1-4 3, Charlie Dotson 1-2 0-0 2, Connor Cavigli 4-5 1-2 9, Colton Hoffenbacker 1-2 0-0 2, Josh Harris 2-4 8-10 12, Brock Osweiler 8-11 1-12 27. Totals 27-54 27-38 86.

3-point goals - GF 8-18 (Au. Heavyrunner 2-3, Hodke 1-1, Stubbs 1-2, Winkler 1-2, Jackson 1-3, Tramelli 1-3, An. Heavyrunner 1-4), FHS 5-20 (Thiesen 3-7, Salois 1-5, Gallagher 1-6). Rebounds - GF 31 (Au. Heavyrunner 9, Semmens 8, Tramelli 5, team 3, An. Heavyrunner 2, Stubbs 2, two with 1), FHS 40 (Osweiler 18, Roehl 7, Hoffenbacker 4, team 4, Salois 2, Cavigli 2, Hoffenbacker 2, Gallagher). Assists - GF 13 (An. Heavyrunner 6, Jackson 2, Semmens 2, three with 1), FHS 18 (Salois 6, Thiesen 3, Osweiler 3, Gallagher 2, Roehl 2, Harris 2, two with 1). Steals - GF 7 (Jackson 3, Hafliger 2, two with 1), FHS 17 (Osweiler 6, Salois 6, Thiesen 2, Gallagher 2, Cavigli). Blocks - GF 2 (Hodke, Hafliger), FHS 4 (Osweiler 4). Turnovers - GF 21, FHS 14. Total fouls - GF 27, FHS 14. Fouled out - Semmens, Hafliger.