Braves defeat Big Sky

| February 17, 2007 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

Move to 5-4 in Western AA

MISSOULA - Sweet revenge.

A fast-break layup by senior Luke Cutler with 28 seconds left lifted the Flathead High School boys basketball team to a 68-66 Western AA victory over Missoula Big Sky Friday night.

The win avenged an overtime loss the Eagles dealt the Braves in Kalispell on Jan. 26.

Big Sky had three shots to tie it after Culter's layup, but Mike Devlin, McHale Anderson and Beau Donaldson all missed mid-range attempts in the final seconds.

Brock Osweiler scored 27 of his 30 points after the first quarter and Danny Salois totaled 11 points to help the Braves improve to 5-4 in Western AA games. They are solidly in fourth place, just a half-game from third place in the conference.

The teams combined for 30 first-half fouls and 33 free throws. They finished with 47 total free throws. Flathead made 15 of 24; Big Sky hit 13 of 23.

The Braves fell behind 11-6 early, then scored 10 straight points bridging the second and third quarters to go up 20-13 on Jake Theisen's jumper with 7 minutes, 8 seconds left in the second.

Big Sky didn't lead again until 55-54, on a 3-pointer from Devlin with 6:43 left. Three lead changes followed before Donaldson hit a shot over Osweiler to knot it at 66-all with 1:20 remaining.

Big Sky had a chance to go ahead, but Donaldson's miss and Osweiler's rebound and outlet led to Cutler's game-winner.

The Braves return home today to host second-placed Missoula Sentinel, 4:30 p.m.

Flathead 16 20 16 16 - 68

Big Sky 13 20 15 18 - 66

FLATHEAD (11-6, 5-4) - Brad Huff 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Roehl 2-2 0-0 4, Brock Osweiler 10-16 10-15 30, Jake Thiesen 1-2 2-4 4, Luke Cutler 3-8 1-2 7, Josh Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Danny Salois 4-7 2-2 11, Connor Cavigli 2-3 0-1 4, Shay Smithwick-Hann 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 26-43 15-24 68.

BIG SKY (7-9, 2-7) - Mike Devlin 9-16 0-1 20, Jordan Taylor 3-5 0-4 6, McHale Anderson 4-9 10-11 20, Mike LaValley 1-5 0-0 2, Justin Montelius 4-7 0-0 11, Blayne Larson 1-2 0-0 2, B.J. O'Neill 0-0 2-4 2, Mitch Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Featherman 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Terrell 0-0 1-2 1, Beau Donaldson 1-4 0-0 2, Heath Eustance 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 13-23 66.

3-point goals - Flt. 1-3 (Salois 1-1, Thiesen 0-1, Cutler 0-1), BS 7-13 (Montelius 3-5, Devlin 2-2, Anderson 2-5, Larson 0-1, Taylor 0-1). Rebounds - Flt. 30 (Osweiler 9), BS 27 (Anderson 10). Steals - Flt. 3 (3 with 1), BS 6 (6 with 1). Turnovers - Flt. 17, BS 14. Fouls - Flt. 24, BS 22. Fouled out - Roehl.