Bravettes rebound, but fall short in OT

Crazy times.

The Flathead Bravettes put on a performance Saturday the polar opposite of what they showed less than 24 hours earlier.

They won the battle of the boards 31-23, shot 44 percent from the field, scored 20 points in one quarter, had seven steals and played exciting, team basketball.

The only thing they didn't get … was a win. Flathead (1-17, 1-9) fell 78-75 in overtime to the Helena High Bengals (9-9, 5-5).

"They've had the low and the low of the high. That's the tough thing," said Flathead coach Kim Elliott.

"There were some tears on the bench because some girls thought they could have put it away. But they also need to realize there's a whole bunch of other things that could have been done," he said.

"That's two great teams battling to the end. It could have went either way," said Helena coach Cyndie Lockett.

"I'm just happy we came out on top. Both of them battled," she said.

Senior guard Kelsey Hildal scored 37 points, had six rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Bravettes. Danika Johnson had 14 points and eight rebounds and Ariel Johnson added eight points, nine rebounds.

"I think they responded real well after (Friday) night … how badly we got bombed by those 3s," Elliott said.

"After what happened, to come out and play like that, that's pretty sweet," he said.

"Our chances were definitely there. They turned around and they played a very, very solid game," he said of the Bravettes.

This game was back and forth all the way.

Danika Johnson scored 13 of her points in the first half. Older sister Ariel stepped up her scoring in the fourth quarter and OT.

"We made some adjustments to get some more screens for people. Rolling off the screens, Danika (Johnson) and Ariel (Johnson) were just incredible.

"Danika, the stuff we set up was to get her open and she did what we asked," the coach said.

"That's what we've been hoping for. This can be 'DK's' team, there's no question. This was a very good game for the 'J and J' girls. That's my big walk-away for this game. (The Johnsons' played well and we played as a team," Elliott said.

"They were doing a great job on the pick and roll. They were just feeding right to Danika and we couldn't slow her down," Lockett said.

Helena kept pace with big games from Kelsey Williams and Monica Grimsrud, 23 and 25 points, respectively.

"They both stepped right up. Kelsey I thought was in a zone and Monica just brings everything she's got day in and day out," Lockett said.

"Kalispell is a team that's not going to give up or quit and they do a good job of just coming at you," she added.

Helena built a five-point lead midway through the second period, only to be outscored 15-6 over the next four minutes.

Flathead led 36-32 at half and had its biggest lead of the game when Hildal nailed a 3-pointer (one of four for the game) 24 seconds into the third.

But Grimsrud responded with seven third quarter points and sophomore Taylor Kanthack had nine of her 15 as the Bengals came back to knot the game at 54.

Helena built a 67-61 lead in the fourth. But the Bravettes charged back to take a 69-67 lead with 30 seconds to go.

It was Grimsrud who tied the game at 69-all with 19 seconds to go.

Once it got to overtime, she scored six of Helena's nine points.

The Bravettes plan to take the next few days off.

"Right now, they're very emotionally drained, so we're going to take take Monday off. They have not had a day off and they've earned it," Elliott said.

Helena 17 15 22 15 9 - 78

Flathead 17 19 20 13 6 - 75

Helena - Kelli Hubley 1 0-2 2, Jordan Briski 0 1-3 1, Kelsey Williams 11 0-0 23, Mariah Shein 1 2-2 5, Sarah Jackson 1 0-0 3, Kyndal Williams 1 1-2 4, Monica Grimsrud 10 5-6 25, Taylor Kanthack 6 3-4 15. Totals 31 12-19 78.

Flathead - Kelsey Hildal 12 9-10 37, Tiffany Habel 0 1-2 1, Ariel Johnson 1 6-12 8, Marissa Stivers 1 0-0 2, Danika Johnson 5 4-5 14, Brittany Earnest 1 0-0 2, Tess Brenneman 4 2-6 11. Totals 23 22-33 76.

3-point goals: Helena 4 (Kelsey Williams, Shein, Kyndal Williams, Jackson), Flathead 5 (Hildal 4, Brenneman 1), Total fouls: Helena 23, Flathead 16. Fouled out: D. Johnson.