Capital drops Flathead; Whitefish nips Libby

The Daily Inter Lake

HELENA - Capital exploded for 22 points in the fourth quarter to whip Flathead 65-51 Saturday in a Western AA boys' basketball game.

Flathead outscored Capital 15-8 in the third period to trail 43-38. The Bruins led 35-23 at the half.

Matt Miller was one of three Capital players to score in double figures. He finished with 16 points.

Brock Osweiler had 13 for Flathead (9-3, 1-3).

Flathead 10 13 15 13 - 51

Capital 20 15 8 22 - 65

Flathead - Jake Theisen 2-10 0-0 4; Connor Cavigli 3-6 0-0 7; Josh Harris 4-6 0-0 8; Salois 2-8 0-0 5; Brock Oswiler 6-12 1-3 13; Coltin Hoffenbaker 0-1 0-0 0; Charlie Dotson 3-3 0-0 6; Michael Gallagher 1-6 2-2 5; Austin Roehl 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 22-54 4-7 51.

Capital - Ben Ternes 5-9 2-3 15; Matt Njos 2-8 3-4 7; Casey Lamping 0-1 2-2 2; Matt Miller 6-15 3-3 16; Brian Bignell 4-10 3-6 11; Travis Pilon 0-1 0-0 0; Kelan Farry 0-1 0-0 0; Tyler Erickson 1-3 4-5 6. Aaron Lynch 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 22-56 17-23 65.

3-point shots - Flathead 3 (Cavigli, Gallagher, Salois) Capital 4 (Ternes 3, Miller). Rebounds - Flathead 34 (Osweiler 9). Capital 36 (Bignell 6). Total fouls - Flathead 18, Capital 8. Fouled out - Theisen.

Whitefish 70, Libby 67

LIBBY - Whitefish rallied from a 56-53 deficit after three quarters of play to down Libby in a Northwestern A contest.

Jim Mee's 3-point field goal attempt hit the front of the rim for Libby at the buzzer.

Whitefish tallied 18 points in the final eight minutes, 12 coming from the free throw line.

Colt Idol went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to ignite the Bulldogs. He finished with a game-high 25 points. He was 13-for-20 at the charity stripe for the game.

Mee and Joel Fuller both finished with 20 for the Loggers. Bryan Cooper was next with 19.

Libby led 41-35 at intermission.

"A big fourth quarter and second half for us," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said.

"We got good production out of our bench tonight - Josh (Backer), Marc (Hotzfield) and Jake (Smith). They stepped up, had productive minutes for us and contributed."

Those three combined for 16 points.

Libby also had a big night at the free throw line, hitting 20-for-22.

Whitefish 12 22 17 18 - 70

Libby 20 21 15 11 - 67

Whitefish (6-7, 3-4) - Matt Whitehead 3 0-0 8, Aaron Tkachyk 4 1-2 13, Shawn Watterud 2 0-0 5, Josh Backer 2 4-7 8, Marc Hatzfield 1 0-0 3, Colt Idol 7 13-20 25, Jake Smith 2 1-2 5. Totals: 21 19-31 70.

Libby - Zack Rowan 1 1-1 3, Jim Mee 5 8-8 20, Joel Fuller 8 3-4 20, Colton Cannon 1 1-2 3, Bryan Cooper 6 7-7 19, Kelly May 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 20-22 67.

Helena 60, Glacier 54

HELENA - Helena High pulled away from a tied game late in the fourth quarter for the Western AA victory.

Grant Fink had 21 points and nine rebounds to help lead the Bengals in improving to 5-1 in conference and 7-5 overall.

But it didn't come easy.

"We played a great rebound game from (Friday)," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. "(Against Capital) we came out flat after being competitive in a lot of the games, even though we lost. We challenged he boys to play hard, because that's the name that they've made for themselves around the conference, and they responded and got after it."

The Wolfpack (0-4 in conference, 3-9 overall) took a 14-13 lead after the first, but trailed 32-25 going into halftime. But they outscored the Bengals 13-8 in the third quarter to pull within two points and tied the game in the fourth.

"We tied it and had a chance to go up by two, but we missed the front end of a bonus trip to the free-throw line," Harkins said. "We had our opportunities and that's all you can ask for on the road in Class AA. Helena is a good team.

"After we tied it up, Helena went to Fink inside. They knew what they needed to do and did it."

Ben Cutler scored 22 points and Shay Smithwick-Hann added 12 for Glacier. Mike Rasmussen had nine points and eight rebounds.

"Rasmussen did a great job for us," Harkins said. "He played great defense. He was a big bright spot. Conner Fuller also played great D."

Glacier 14 11 13 16 - 54

Helena 13 19 8 20 - 60

GLACIER (0-4, 3-9) - Josh Doty 1 0-2 2, Conner Fuller 2 0-0 4, Shay Smithwick-Hann 5 2-2 12, Mike Rasmussen 4 1-3 9, Ben Cutler 8 4-5 22, Ben Sansaver 1 1-1 3, Logan Quay 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 8-13 54.

HELENA (5-1, 7-5) - Nick Trapp 0 1-2 1, Reil Cornelius 4 4-6 12, Adam Johnson 0 2-4 2, Spencer Chamberlain 1 0-2 2, Grant Fink 9 3-6 21, Steven Foster 3 5-12 11, Brian Evans 4 0-0 11. Totals 21 15-32 60.

3-point goals - Glac. 2 (Cutler 2), Hel. 3 (Evans 3). Rebounds - Glac. 34 (Rasmussen 8), Hel. 37 (Fink 9, Foster 6). Assists - Glac. 6 (Fuller 2), Hel. 8 (Cornelius 2). Steals - Glac. 8 (three with 2), Hel. 2 (two with 1). Turnovers - Glac. 6, Hel. 11. Total fouls - Glac. 20, Hel. 14. Fouled out - Rasmussen.

GIRLS

Libby 42, Eureka 22

EUREKA - Eureka held Libby's Jackie Mee to a season-low four points, but it still wasn't enough as the Loggers prevailed in the nonconference matchup.

Mee came into the contest averaging right around 20 points per game.

Mee had 35 points in the first meeting between the two Lincoln County rivals this season. Libby won that contest 65-44.

"Carly (Hammond), Rica (Fils) and Tayler (Holder) took shifts on Jackie and pretty much followed her where ever she went," Eureka coach John Hammond said. "They did a great job on her defensively."

Eureka struggled offensively, finishing with just seven field goals.

Melanie Finch led the Lions (6-7) in scoring with eight points. Mariah Newell had five points and nine rebounds.

Brittany Martin and Korey Kulbeck paced Libby with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Libby 10 11 6 15 - 42

Eureka 5 8 2 7 - 22

Libby - Brooke Hageness 1 3-4 5, Korey Kulbeck 5 0-0 10, Brittany Martin 4 2-4 12, Jaime Gilden 1 2-4 4, Laice Dedrick 3 0-1 6, Nicole Rios 0 1-2 1, Jackie Mee 1 2-4 4. Totals: 15 10-19 42.

Eureka - Tayler Holder 1 0-0 2, Carly Hammond 1 0-0 2, Melanie Finch 3 2-3 8, Auna Lawler 0 2-2 2, Rica Fils 0 2-4 2, Steph Vogelman 0 1-2 1, Mariah Newell 2 1-4 5. Totals: 7 8-15 22.

3-point goals: Martin (2); Team fouls: Libby 16, Eureka 18; Fouled out: Newell.

FV Home School 58

Helena Christian 37

HELENA - Flathead Valley Home School climbed to 5-0 in MCAA play and 17-2 overall with a victory over Helena Christian School at Carroll College.

Danae Sheeran had her second straight double-double for the Lady Crusaders with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Teammate Charity Zemke had 18 points and nine rebounds. Jenna Sladek was next with 16 points.

FVHS 15 13 18 12 - 58

Helena Christian 10 10 7 10 - 37

FV HOME SCHOOl(17-2, 5-0) - Charity Zemke 7 4-5 18, Danae Sheeran 9 0-2 18, Jenna Sladek 8 0-0 16, Jordanna Weimer 1 0-1 2, Kendra Chupp 1 0-0 2, Shelby Sladek 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 4-8 58.

HELENA CHRISTIAN - Gloria Cox 6 1-2 14, Natasha Mathis 4 0-0 8, Caroline Bradford 3 1-2 7, Shayla Mintz 3 0-0 6, Arianna Schroeder 1 0-2 2. Totals: 17 2-6 37.

3-point goals: Cox; Team fouls: FVHS 11, Helena Christian 16; Fouled out: None.