No upset for Braves at state
Flathead, West exchange lead five times in second half
BILLINGS - There was no upset for the Braves Thursday in the opening round of the Class AA State Tournament.
The Billings West High School boys basketball team survived a great effort from Flathead, rallying from a nine-point second-quarter deficit for a 57-48 victory.
The win avenged Flathead's big upset of West last year in the opening round of the tournament in Butte.
The Braves (13-9) fall into the consolation bracket, with a loser-out game today at 9 a.m. against Bozeman. The Hawks (15-7) lost to Missoula Sentinel in the tourney's first game.
There were two lead changes and two ties in the fourth quarter after three third-quarter lead changes.
Senior Luke Cutler gave the Braves their final lead, 41-40, with his fourth 3-pointer at 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in the game.
But then the Golden Bears went on an 8-0 run, where the Braves committed two bad fouls and a turnover while attempting two bad shots in ending possessions.
West iced the game by making seven of eight free throws in the game's final 1:56.
All told, the Bears made 22 of 32 free throws. The Braves were whistled for 11 more fouls (24-13) and made seven of 13 foul shots - meaning the Bears scored 15 more points from the free-throw line in their nine-point win.
"We had a run and we did a good job," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "I give the boys nothing but credit and certainly Billings West deserves a lot of credit. My goodness, they are tough defensively and they clean up the boards."
Billings West's 2-3 zone defense, full-court press and patient offense controlled the Braves.
After Cutler and Jake Thiesen combined for three 3-pointers in the opening quarter to help the Braves out to a 20-11 lead, the team had only five shot attempts in the second quarter. Then they had only two 2-point attempts in the third quarter. All the while, in those middle quarters, the Braves committed 13 turnovers.
"It really helped them out when Culter got so many open looks and hit so many outside shots," Billings West coach Doug Robison said. "That was something I wasn't really prepared for, or ready for. The key in the second half was guarding their perimeter players. We had to make sure we had their perimeter players guarded better than we did in the first. So we actually had to extend the zone out and spread it out a little more."
The Bears ended the second quarter on a 12-2 run to cut their deficit to 26-25 at the half. They took their first lead of the game when senior Jimmy Swain hit a 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the third. Cutler's third trey on the Braves' ensuing possession put the Braves back in front. But that was just one of two shots the Braves made in the quarter as West controlled the low-scoring frame, 9-5.
"They did a nice job, when they scored, of dictating tempo by jumping in the press," Febach said. "We had a real problem attacking it. Then if we did get a shot, we weren't able to rebound it if it missed. We needed to get more shots. Again, it was a good defensive effort for West. It was a good game plan.
"Basically, we just needed to make a couple more stops defensively so they couldn't get into that press."
Like last year, neither team shot well. West made 31.3 percent of its shots (16-for-51). Flathead made 39.5 percent of its shots (17-for-43). Each team finished with 36 rebounds. The biggest discrepancy - besides fouls - came in turnovers, where West finished with a 16-7 advantage.
Cutler led the Braves with 14 points, two assists and two steals. Sophomore Brock Osweiler had 11 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal before fouling out. He had four of his points in the first quarter and added three free throws in the second before being shut out in the third. Senior Geoff Hogan had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Junior point guard Jake Thiesen had eight points and three assists before fouling out.
"My kids competed strong throughout," Febach said. "We got behind and at the end we just couldn't get over the hump. Now we've got to bounce back for tomorrow morning, already. That's tournament play for you."
Senior forward Shane Robison had 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out to lead West. Swain, who sported the big-hair look, hit two big 3-pointers in scoring 10 points. Senior Ryan Kittleson finished with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Junior point guard Casey Rogers and senior forward Tyler Tabbert each added eight points.
"I wasn't surprised by the game," Robison said. "Flathead has a great team. I didn't think at the beginning of the year they would be fourth place in their conference. They really have some talented players. So I'm really happy we got through this game. After last year, it feels like it's been 10 years since I won a tournament game."
The top-ranked Bears improve to 19-2 on the season and earned a semifinal berth against Sentinel (16-5).
West 11 14 9 23 - 57
Flathead 18 8 5 17 - 48
BILLINGS WEST (19-2) - Tyler Tabbert 2-3 4-9 8, Shane Robison 5-14 4-4 14, Jordan Everaert 1-4 0-0 2, Casey Rogers 2-6 1-1 8, Ryan Kittleson 0-4 9-13 9, Nathan Hellyer 1-6 0-0 2, Gary Fox Jr. 0-2 4-4 4, Jimmy Swain 4-7 0-1 10, Mitchell Craig 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 22-32 57.
FLATHEAD (13-9) - Brock Osweiler 4-7 3-6 11, Austin Roehl 0-1 0-0 0, Geoff Hogan 4-8 2-5 10, Jake Thiesen 3-8 0-0 8, Luke Cutler 4-11 2-2 14, Connor Cavigli 1-1 0-0 3, Shay Smithwick-Hann 0-1 0-0 0, Michael Gallagher 0-3 0-0 0, Josh Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Brad Huff 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-43 7-13 48.
3-point goals - BW 3-14 (Swain 2-5, Rogers 1-3, Kittleson 0-2, Tabbert 0-2, Hellyer 0-2), FHS 7-18 (Cutler 4-7, Thiesen 2-7, Cavigli 1-1, Hogan 0-2, Gallagher 0-1). Rebounds - BW 36 (Robison, Kittleson 6), FHS 36 (Hogan 13, Osweiler 12). Assists - BW 9 (Kittleson 5), FHS 10 (Thiesen 3). Steals - BW 5 (Kittleson 2), FHS 4 (Cutler 2). Blocks - BW 3 (Tabbert 2), FHS 3 (Osweiler 2). Turnovers - BW 7, FHS 16. Total fouls - BW 13, FHS 24. Fouled out - Robison, Osweiler, Thiesen.