Bravettes cruise in crosstown victory
It didn't take long for the dust surrounding their first crosstown showdown to settle. And as it did, something became very clear: The Bravettes were simply too fast, too balanced and too savvy for the young Wolfpack.
The Flathead High School girls' basketball team raced to a 67-30 victory over Glacier on Friday in the opening chapter of Kalispell's Western AA rivalry.
The veteran Bravettes (3-2 conference, 8-5 overall) used pressure defense and sharp shooting to lead 9-0 after 4 minutes, 17-4 after one quarter and 30-15 at halftime. They were just getting started.
Kendalyn Habel finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four steals, and fellow guards Meghan O'Connell and Ally Krautbauer scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the Bravettes exploded for 23 points in the third quarter to lead 53-25 entering the final frame.
The Bravettes applied full-court, man-to-man pressure for about 60 percent of the night before testing some defensive wrinkles down the stretch. Flathead shot 51.9 percent from the field while holding Glacier to 32.6 percent.
"Very solid man-to-man," Flathead coach Kim Elliott said. "The only thing that we worked a bunch on that didn't happen is teams score on us at the end of quarters, and they did that on us at the end of the half and the end of the third quarter.
"It's never good to let a team have some momentum going into the start of the next quarter. But we were able to put some stuff in in the fourth quarter that we hadn't done - some half-court trap stuff. I really liked what (the Bravettes) did because they hadn't done it in a game, and they came out and did it well."
Glacier closed the second quarter on an 11-6 run that featured eight points by junior post - and former Bravette standout - Emilee Hashley. Hashley also grabbed 10 rebounds, putting her just shy of a double-double. Junior forward Lindsea Vaudt scored a team-high 11 points.
"The girls did battle hard," Glacier coach Doug Hashley said. "We went against a great foe in Flathead that I thought was running on all cylinders.
"I did think Emilee played really hard and battled on the boards well, and Lindsea Vaudt got some shots that haven't been falling for her in the previous games to fall for her this game, and she competed."
Flathead's posts enjoyed big outings as well. Kaylyn Heaton had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with her five points, and Ashley Brown tallied eight points, three boards and three steals.
Eight Bravettes reached the scoring column - including six in the first quarter - and all of them were seniors. Guards Kali Radel, Ashley Younkin and Shaina Evans combined for 15 points.
"It was very enjoyable to be able to watch eight senior girls run their stuff," Elliott said. "I had to call very little. They did it. They were calling the offense, they were calling defenses on some of the stuff when we switched up.
"It's a joy to watch 16-, 17-, 18-year-old girls play with passion, and play the way that they've been taught for however many years they've been playing. It's just pure joy. It's Bravette running joy."
Coach Hashley said he knew Flathead's defense presented a major challenge for his underclassmen, but some encouraging performances emerged.
"I was hoping not to get rattled, but we're young," he said. "We've got a couple freshmen point guards out there, who I thought did a real nice job. I would compliment Ashlee (Waggener) and Paige (Latimer) on their poise and confidence out there versus such great pressure."
Waggener had two points, two assists and two steals, while Latimer totaled five points, three rebounds and two takeaways.
Habel said her enjoyment of the game had little to do with the outcome.
"Every time (the Wolfpack) did something good, we'd be like, 'Dang it,'" she said. "But at the same time, we were happy for them. It was almost confusing, actually. I'd see Emilee, and I'd almost pass it to her because I played with her all last year.
"It was so much fun. It was like playing my best friends. It was like the good old days, I guess."
Flathead 17 13 23 14 - 67
Glacier 4 11 10 5 - 30
FLATHEAD (8-5, 3-2) - Shaina Evans 2-4 0-0 4, Kali Radel 2-4 0-0 5, Kendalyn Habel 5-12 1-3 13, Ally Krautbauer 5-8 2-3 12, Meghan O'Connell 5-9 3-3 14, Ashley Younkin 3-4 0-1 6, Ashley Brown 4-4 0-1 8, Kaylyn Heaton 2-8 1-2 5, Ariel Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-54 7-13 67.
GLACIER (1-13, 0-6) - Kayla Smart 0-3 0-0 0, Jolee Kampf 0-1 0-0 0, Kadie Latimer 1-5 0-0 2, Lindsea Vaudt 5-12 1-2 11, Emilee Hashley 4-7 0-1 8, Skyler St. Onge 1-2 0-0 2, Paige Latimer 2-3 1-2 5, Ashlee Waggener 1-3 0-0 2, Sydney Sharaf 0-3 0-0 0, Taylor Albright 0-1 0-0 0, Maddey Frey 0-1 0-0 0, Anna Lybeck 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Harris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 2-5 30.
3-point goals - FHS 4-15 (Radel 1-3, Habel 2-7, O'Connell 1-3, Younkin 0-1, Brown 0-1), Gla. 0-3 (K. Latimer 0-1, Vaudt 0-1, Waggener 0-1). Rebounds - FHS 36 (Heaton 11, Habel 6, O'Connell 4, Brown 3, Evans 2, Krautbauer 2, Younkin 2, team 6), Gla. 27 (Hashley 10, P. Latimer 3, Vaudt 2, Waggener 2, Kampf, Albright, Zoey Pettit, Lybeck, team 6). Blocks - FHS 2 (Krautbauer, team), Gla. 0. Steals - FHS 16 (O'Connell 6, Habel 4, Brown 3, Krautbauer, Younkin, Heaton), Gla. 9 (P. Latimer 2, Waggener 2, Kampf, Hashley, Sharaf, Lybeck, Harris). Turnovers - FHS 18, Gla. 24. Team fouls - FHS 12, Gla. 14. Fouled out - none.