Bravettes put leash on Lady Bulldogs

The Daily Inter Lake

The Lady Bulldogs bit the Bravettes early, but the Flathead High School girls basketball team responded in dominant fashion, beating visiting Whitefish on Thursday night, 77-35.

Six-foot Flathead senior Chelsea Vaudt notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and junior guard Meghan O'Connell added 17 points as the Class AA Bravettes ran their record to 8-3 with the non-conference victory.

Junior guard Ashley Ferda scored 10 points for the Class A Lady Bulldogs (3-8), who held their own in the opening frame before Flathead went on an 11-0 run to close the first quarter with a 24-6 lead.

The Bravettes led 37-18 at halftime, and blew the game wide open in the third quarter, outscoring Whitefish, 29-11.

Still, Flathead coach Tim Elliott saw room for improvement.

"(The Lady Bulldogs) bit us on the heel, and I would have liked (the Bravettes) to respond faster," Elliott said. "It's just like if you're being bit by a little terrier; you need to come out like a Newfoundland, and just take control of everything around you."

Flathead did just that, out-rebounding Whitefish 40-25 while committing only 12 turnovers compared to 28 for the Lady Bulldogs.

Whitefish was dealt an early blow when 5-foot-10 senior post Kaitlin O'Leary left the game with an ankle injury with 5 minutes, 4 seconds left in the first quarter.

Whitefish coach Tim Olson said O'Leary's early departure was a "big impact down low for us, but (the Bravettes) run 10, 11 girls in the game. I need 10 or 11 Kaitlin O'Learys to replace her."

Vaudt wasn't the only imposing Bravette to hurt Whitefish. Six-foot sophomore post Emilee Hashley scored 11 points while 5-foot-10 senior post Leslie Quay tallied six points and eight rebounds.

Though Olson conceded Whitefish couldn't match Flathead's height, he said the Lady Bulldogs still have tools to battle in the paint.

"If you're outsized and out-heighted, you can compete," Olson said. "You've just got to get a body on some girls and find your girl and box them out. We didn't do that at all today."

Olson said Flathead's combination of talented post players and sharp outside shooters makes the Bravettes hard to defend.

"They pound it down low to the big girls, and if we collapse in on them, O'Connell steps back and hits (3-pointers)," Olson said.

O'Connell drained three treys - all in the third quarter

Elliott said he treated Whitefish as a Class AA opponent, and challenged his athletes to play with laser-like focus.

"(The Bravettes) kept the focus, and Whitefish made us keep the focus," Elliott said. "(The Lady Bulldogs) didn't sag off. They didn't go into a zone and just say 'Let's try and get out of here.' They manned us up. (Olson) was switching his zones, and he made me work."

Whitefish senior guard Kali Schmidt poured in eight points, including two 3-pointers in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs made 34.3 percent of their 35 shots from the field while the Bravettes unleashed 68 shots, draining 32 of them (47.1 percent).

Olson said the lopsided defeat will have no impact on the Lady Bulldogs' confidence as they commence the second half of their Northwestern A schedule with a visit to Polson tonight at 7:30.

"We're going to try to bury this one, learn from our mistakes and go for a conference win tomorrow night in Polson," Olson said. "Playing a bigger, AA school exposes our weaknesses to no end.

Kalispell exposed our weaknesses, and we've got to get back in the saddle and get a conference win in Polson tomorrow."

The Bravettes face another Northwestern A team tonight at 8 when they visit Columbia Falls.

The Wildkats are 7-4, including 5-1 in conference play, and run a balanced, up-tempo attack.

"We need to be at 100 percent from the very first second because they're a little bigger than a terrier," Elliott said.

"They will make us pay."

Whitefish 6 12 11 6 - 35

Flathead 24 13 29 11 - 77

WHITEFISH (3-8) - Kirsten Blackburn 2 0-0 5, Ashley Ferda 3 4-6 10, Kali Schmidt 3 0-0 8, Desiree Clarke 0 0-2 0, Dana Labuda 2 1-2 5, Kate Klundt 0 2-4 2, Chelsea Ray 1 1-4 3, Torie Powell 1 0-3 2. Totals 12-35 8-21 35.

FLATHEAD (8-3) - Christina Zorn 2 0-0 5, Kendalyn Habel 3 3-3 9, Lindsay Ingram 3 0-0 6, Emilee Hashley 5 0-0 11, Meghan O'Connell 7 0-0 17, Sara Newgard 1 2-2 4, Chelsea Vaudt 8 1-3 17, Annie Braseth 1 0-2 2, Leslie Quay 2 2-4 6. Totals 32-68 8-14 77.

3-point goals - WF 3-10 (Schmidt 2, Blackburn 1), FHS 5-11 (O'Connell 3, Zorn 1, Hashley 1). Rebounds - WF 25, FHS 40. Assists - WF 4, FHS 12. Steals - WF 6, FHS 17. Blocks - WF 1, FHS 1. Turnovers - WF 28, FHS 12. Total fouls - WF 13, FHS 18.