Bravettes rally over Whitefish

Teams exchange 6 lead changes, 9 ties

WHITEFISH - It was d/j? vu Friday night in the Whitefish High School gym between the Class A Whitefish and Class AA Flathead basketball programs.

This one pitted the girls' teams and gently-packed crowd saw the Bravettes open the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to break open a tie game. The night before it was the Flathead boys who opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to break open a tie game.

Flathead senior guard-forward Kendalyn Habel hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and scored 16 of her 21 points in the final frame to lead the Bravettes from a 38-38 tie to a 61-48 victory.

"That wasn't the plan - it was just Kendalyn," Flathead coach Kim Elliott said. "She knew what was there."

Whitefish coach Tim Olson credited Habel as well.

"That Habel girl stepped up in the fourth quarter and decided it was her turn," Olson said. "She did a great job."

The teams tied each other nine times and exchanged six leads before the Bravettes out-scored the Bulldogs 23-10 in the fourth.

"It was ragged until it was on the line," Elliott said. "They (the Bravettes) think they can pull it out all the time. We just have to put games away sooner."

Flathead senior post Kaylyn Heaton registered her first double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds and indirectly got the Bravettes going in the fourth.

"We were being a little selfish and had no rhythm," Elliott said. "The turning point came when Kaylyn Heaton did a seal for Kendalyn to drive to the basket. From that point on, they became unselfish. It all started with that and they fed off each other."

Prior to the Bravettes taking command, it was a battle of zone defenses.

Whitefish controlled the second quarter in a 2-3 zone. Then Flathead came out of halftime in a 1-3-1 zone and frustrated the Bulldogs.

"We started in man (defense) and one of our keys was to keep the ball out of Habel's hands," Olson said. "We denied her the ball early. But they (the Bravettes) have an athleticism we don't have and we couldn't stay in man the whole game. So we went to the 2-3 zone and it was pretty effective."

The Bravettes made just one basket (going 1-for-9) in the second quarter and trailed by seven points, 24-17, at one point. Whitefish went into halftime with a 29-23 lead. Kate Klundt led the way, scoring eight of her 12 points in the first half.

"We let them go back and sit in their zone and that hurt us," Elliott said. "We finally got it to where we were pushing the ball up the wing. Then our rebounding … Kaylyn kept us in there."

Flathead erased its halftime deficit one minute into the third quarter.

As effective as the Bravettes were pushing the ball on offense and putting up shots before the Bulldogs could set up, they were just as effective on defense - in the 1-3-1.

"It was a gut feeling at halftime," Elliott said.

The feeling worked. The Bulldogs made just four of 19 shots in the third quarter and then were held to just one shot attempt for the first half of the final frame. All the while, the Bulldogs committed 13 turnovers.

"The 1-3-1 is what Bigfork throws at us and that's what we have fits with," Olson said. "We prepare for it every time we play Bigfork and we knew Flathead had it in their playbook, but we didn't handle it well at all. That was the difference.

"Their speed is tremendous. They anticipate real well. We didn't pass the ball real well and that's the 1-3-1 zone right there.

"We wore out. We had them and had some nice things going on. But we'll get better with this and it will pay off in the end."

SEVEN GIRLS scored points for Flathead, which won the battle of the boards, 42-32 - even though Habel was held without a rebound in the first half. Meghan O'Connell had 14 points, four steals and two assists. Ally Krautbauer had seven points and five rebounds. Shaina Evans added four points and pulled down seven rebounds. Habel finished with five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Ashley Younkin and Jamie Zorn combined for five points. Ashley Brown tallied five rebounds.

Whitefish senior point guard Ashley Ferda, a future Lady Griz, hit three 3-pointers in the second half - including two in the fourth quarter - and four total. She finished with 14 points but had just two assists and two steals. Chelsea Ray registered eight points, three rebounds and three assists. Dana Labuda had six points, six rebounds and two steals. Desiree Clark and Amanda Ormsby each had four points.

Both teams evened their records to 5-5 and are back in action today. Flathead hosts Bigfork while Whitefish travels to play Polson.

Flathead 17 6 15 23 - 61

Whitefish 15 14 9 10 - 48

FLATHEAD (5-5) - Shaina Evans 1-7 2-2 4, Kali Radel 0-0 0-0 0, Kendalyn Habel 8-17 2-4 21, Ally Krautbauer 3-12 1-5 7, Meghan O'Connell 5-11 2-2 14, Ashley Younkin 1-6 0-0 2, Jamie Zorn 1-1 1-1 3, Ashley Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Kaylyn Heaton 4-8 2-4 10. Totals 23-64 10-18 61.

WHITEFISH (5-5) - Jessie Slaybaugh 0-0 0-0 0, Torie Powell 0-2 0-0 0, Kate Klundt 5-12 2-3 12, Ashley Ferda 4-12 2-2 14, Desiree Clark 2-3 0-0 4, Dana Labuda 3-7 1-2 8, Chelsea Ray 3-7 1-2 8, Amanda Ormsby 2-6 0-2 4. Totals 19-49 5-9 48.

3-point goals - Flt. 5-12 (Habel 3-6, O'Connell 2-5), Wht. 5-12 (Ferda 4-8, Ray 1-3). Rebounds - Flt. 42 (Heaton 11, Evans 7, team 6, Habel 5, Krautbauer 5, Brown 5, Younkin 2, O'Connell), Wht. 32 (team 9, Labuda 6, Klundt 5, Powell 4, Ray 3, Ferda 3, two with 1). Assists - Flt. 5 (Habel 2, O'Connell 2, Younkin), Wht. 11 (Klundt 3, Ray 3, Ferda 2, Clark 2, Powell). Steals - Flt. 14 (O'Connell 4, Habel 4, Krautbauer 2, Younkin 2, two with 1), Wht. 8 (Klundt 2, Ferda 2, Labuda 2, two with 1). Blocks - Flt. 2 (O'Connell 2), Wht. 1 (Labuda). Turnovers - Flt. 16, Wht. 23. Total fouls - Flt. 10, Wht. 14. Fouled out - none.