Bravettes fall in season finale

| February 25, 2007 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

BUTTE - The Flathead High School girls basketball team lost its regular season finale at Butte High on Saturday, 55-44.

The Bravettes finish Western AA play at 8-4, and are 14-6 overall.

A victory over Butte would have given Flathead the regular season title outright.

Flathead jumped ahead early, but sputtered to end the second quarter and trailed 22-19 at halftime.

"The big thing was we (led) 19-10 and then we had four turnovers in a row," said Flathead coach Kim Elliott. "They weren't even throwaway turnovers, we just lost focus for a short period of time.

"We played hard, and it was (Butte's) senior night, and they just played a little harder," Elliott added. "But our girls played real hard. They did like they always do - they did not quit."

Lindsay Ingram led Flathead offensively with 10 points.

Butte, which also finished league play 8-4, was paced by Lexie Nelson's 20 points.

Flathead 14 5 12 13 - 44

Butte 10 12 16 17 - 55

FLATHEAD (8-4, 14-6) - Kendalyn Habel 1-11 2-2 4, Lindsay Ingram 4-11 0-0 10, Meghan O'Connell 3-9 0-0 7, Sara Newgard 3-10 2-2 8, Chelsea Vaudt 1-2 0-0 2, Annie Braseth 1-1 0-0 2, Emilee Hashley 3-8 2-3 8, Leslie Quay 1-2 1-2 3, Ashley Younkin 0-0 0-0 0, Christina Zorn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-54 7-9 44.

BUTTE HIGH (8-4, 13-7) - Lexie Nelson 5-8 8-8 20, Shelbie Rosa 0-4 0-0 0, Nacyshla Mehring 0-1 0-0 0, Gwenn Abbott 2-7 4-8 8, Joey O'Neill 5-8 0-2 10, Brianne McCloskey 5-11 1-1 11, Kalli McCloskey 1-2 0-0 2, Brianne Holland-Stergar 2-3 0-0 4, Jordan Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Julia Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Katrina Clary 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 13-19 55.

3-point goals - Flathead 3-16 (Ingram 2-4, O'Connell 1-6, Habel 0-6), Butte 2-8 (Nelson 2-3, Rosa 0-3, McClafferty 0-1, Holland-Stergar 0-1). Rebounds - Flathead 36 (Quay 6), Butte 25 (Abbott 7). Assists - Flathead 5 (O'Connell 3), Butte 14 (McCloskey 7, McClafferty 3). Steals - Flathead 4 (Newgard 2), Butte 9 (McClafferty 3, Abbott 3). Blocks - Flathead1 (O'Connell), Butte 7 (O'Neill 3, Abbott 2, Nelson, McCloskey). Turnovers - Flathead 15, Butte 11. Total fouls - Flathead 14, Butte 14. Fouled out - O'Connell. Technicals - none.