Bravettes knock off No. 5 Capital

Hand Bruins first Western AA loss

If the Bravettes play like they did on Saturday for the rest of the season, they will vie for the state title.

Senior post Kaylyn Heaton scored all nine of her points in the first quarter to help lead the Flathead High School girls' basketball team to a 15-5 lead against No. 5 Helena Capital and the Bravettes held on for a 64-59 Western AA victory.

It was the first conference loss for the Bruins.

"That was a great game," Helena Capital coach Bill Pilgeram said. "Both teams played very, very hard. Flathead just did a better job in the first half and took advantages of some scoring opportunities. Plus, we turned it over more than we characteristically do. But we knew that could be the case against them."

With the lesson learned exactly a week ago of how to play with a lead in the fourth quarter, the Bravettes were tested. And although they passed the test - thanks to going 13-for-14 from the free-throw line in the final frame - their impatience nearly got the best of them.

"In their mind, the score is always zero to zero and they know they can beat anyone to the basket," Flathead coach Kim Elliott said.

Trailing by 10 points at one point in the fourth, the Bruins got to within one possession, 60-57, with 36.6 seconds left.

"It's hard for us because we want to go, go, go," senior guard Meghan O'Connell said. "Our defense is such high pressure it just goes right into our offense and we just want to go. We're working on it and we're getting there, but we aren't perfect yet."

Senior guard Kali Radel sunk both ends of a double-bonus trip to the free-throw line with 17.9 seconds left to give the Bravettes a five-point cushion.

"They were big - definitely big," said Radel, who finished with two 3-pointers and 10 points. "Honestly, all I was thinking was, 'Back loop and legs.'

"It's actually a funny story. The last week of practice, me and Ashley Younkin have been staying an extra hour and a half after practice and working on free throws and that's all Ashley and I have been saying. Look at the back loop (of the net) and use your legs. Forget about everything else."

But after Radel sunk her free throws, Capital's Alecia Wilson drove the court - all the while looking for someone to pass to - and hit a layup with 6.8 seconds left. It put the game back at one possession, 62-59.

O'Connell took the inbound pass for Flathead, saw an opening at halfcourt and took off to it. That's where she was fouled and fell hard, headfirst into the hardwood. … But that's a very common scene between her and teammate Kendalyn Habel.

She sunk both free throws with 1.8 seconds left.

"I was just thinking, 'Put these away and we beat Capital, who is undefeated in conference,'" said O'Connell who was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the fourth and 6-for-6 overall en route to netting 11 points.

The victory completed a huge weekend for the Bravettes. They earned their first two conference wins and announced their presence to the rest of the state.

"This was two big conference wins for us," O'Connell said. "It's wonderful. We were very emotional after the Bigfork game so we sat down and decided this is where it needs to get done. In a way, the Bigfork loss was a good thing for us. It awakened us. We were a sleeping giant. Now we are awake."

Habel led the charge with another double-double (18 points and 10 rebounds plus three assists). O'Connell and Radel also hit double-digit points. Younkin came up with seven steals. Ally Krautbauer hit two huge 3-pointers. And although Heaton was held scoreless after the first, she grabbed seven rebounds (including three on offense) before fouling out and made the Bruins adjust their gameplan. Senior forward Ashley Brown also had a hand in making the Bruins adjust with four points, two rebounds, a steal and an assist - all in the first quarter.

Trailing by seven points at halftime, Capital opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take their first lead, 33-32, since the game-opening basket.

"We did a little bit of box-and-one; we did a little bit of triangle-and-two," Pilgeram said. "We just tried to keep them out of the paint and if they were out of the paint, be guarding the one that we didn't want shooting the ball."

Krautbauer answered by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers from the baseline.

"That's where they hit a couple of big shots," Pilgeram said. "We took a little bit of a gamble and they called our bluff."

The Bruins came right back to tie it at 38. But Habel took over for a few possessions, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer before earning a trip to the free-throw line. Then Radel closed the third quarter with her second trey.

"In the second half, we played very well," Pilgeram said. "We did what we wanted to do and they made a couple of those plays that if they don't make, it's anybody's game."

Capital guard Kelsi Brekki hit three 3-pointers and finished with 22 points. Forward Ashley Ames registered a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

"We know Brekke is an awesome open-court shooter," O'Connell said. "She is really good at finding that backdoor sealing and Ames is just amazing. She was hitting from left and right - everywhere. We were really just focusing on pressure defense. Our full-court pressure worked really good on Helena (Friday night) so it gave us a lot of confidence and we went back to it. We threw in a couple different things, but they didn't work so we just stuck with the man-to-man pressure."

The Bravettes forced 20 turnovers, while committing 14. They made 88 percent (22-for-25) of their free throws.

"We have it scheduled on Monday to have our Bigfork loss talk, but Bigfork is a tourist place now," Elliott said. "We'll go there when we want to go there. But we don't need to go there now."

The Bravettes (2-2 in conference, 7-5 overall) are back in action with their first crosstown rivalry game at Glacier on Friday.

Capital 10 15 16 18 - 59

Flathead 17 15 15 17 - 64

CAPITAL (5-1, 8-4) - Kelsi Brekke 6-14 7-7 22, Alecia Wilson 2-3 0-0 4, Markki Johnston 0-2 0-0 0, Kelsey Grey 1-2 0-0 2, Kadee Jones 1-5 0-2 2, Mikal Chancy 0-0 1-2 1, Kalli Jo Heller 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Ames 6-11 7-10 19, Lindsey Bignell 4-8 1-2 9. Totals 20-46 16-23 59.

FLATHEAD (2-2, 7-5) - Shaina Evans 0-4 0-0 0, Kali Radel 3-7 2-2 10, Kendalyn Habel 6-18 5-6 18, Ally Krautbauer 2-5 0-0 6, Meghan O'Connell 2-11 6-6 11, Ashley Younkin 0-1 3-4 2, Shelby Heaton 1-2 0-0 2, Ashley Brown 1-1 3-4 5, Kaylyn Heaton 3-6 3-3 9. Totals 18-55 22-25 64.

3-point goals - Cap. 3-12 (Brekke 3-7), Flt. 6-19 (Krautbauer 2-3, Radel 2-5, Habel 1-5, O'Connell 1-6). Rebounds - Cap. 35 (Ames 11, Jones 5, team 5, Brekke 3, five with 2), Flt. 31 (Habel 10, K. Heaton 7, Evans 3, team 3, two with 2, four with 1). Assists - Cap. 9 (Wilson 5, Bignell 2, two with 1), Flt. 10 (Habel 3, Krautbauer 2, Evans 2, three with 1). Steals - Cap. 5 (five with 1), Flt. 10 (Younkin 7, three with 1). Blocks - Cap. 1 (Wilson), Flt. 0. Turnovers - Cap. 20, Flt. 14. Total fouls - Cap. 21, Flt. 21. Fouled out - K. Heaton. Technical fouls - Capital coach Bill Pilgeram.