Salois' trey leads to Flathead's first win
By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter Lake
WHITEFISH - Flathead's Danny Salois rushed down the court and banked in a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to give the Braves a 67-66 come-from-behind nonconference basketball win over Whitefish on Friday.
The senior point guard finished with eight points and seven assists and Flathead started out the year with their first win of the season.
"I was thinking let's wait till about 6 or 7 seconds and get a good shot," Salois said afterward, "and I happened to get a good shot even sooner than that, so I took advantage."
Salois saved his celebration until after the buzzer sounded, when he ran and jumped into the arms of teammates and coaches.
"Yeah it did (feel good), but I was still a little surprised to see it go in," Salois said, "and then once it did, I just knew we needed to get back on defense and find Colt (Idol) because we knew he was going to take the shot."
And that he did. Whitefish's Idol caught the ball with time running out and threw up a baseline jump-shot, but it ricocheted off the rim and brought the crowd of visiting Flathead fans to their feet in celebration.
Idol scored 23 points, Aaron Tkaychk had 12 and David FauntLeRoy chipped in nine for the Bulldogs, who lost their third in a row.
"We just gotta keep it rolling," said Salois, whose team ended a three-game losing streak. "We know that we can win now. That's a good team out there (Whitefish), and we have an even better team tomorrow, and (the opposing teams' are only going to get better."
Karl Ingram added 16 points and nine rebounds and Tyler Hawkins scored 11 points for the Braves, who are scheduled to play Great Falls C.M. Russell today at 4:30 p.m. at home. It is still to be determined whether the game will be played due to weather.
The Braves were down by as many eight points in the fourth quarter, but a combination of players contributed to the comeback. With three minutes left, freshman George Sherwood rumbled through the paint and made the traditional three-point play. After making the free throw, he sprinted down on defense, grabbed the rebound off a Whitefish miss and dished the ball to Salois, who then gave it right back. Sherwood scored his fifth point in roughly 20 seconds to put Flathead within two points. Sherwood finished with 10 before fouling out in the final minute.
"I really feel good for my kids," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "When you work as hard at practice as these kids do, you hopefully get the reward. Obviously a win is a great reward, but what I was particularly pleased with was our poise and how we played down the stretch."
The Braves, who have only three seniors on their roster, out-rebounded the Bulldogs 39-34.
"(Whitefish) made a good run to start that third quarter, got a little bit of a cushion and looked like they were going to take control, and we were able to respond to that," Febach said. "Kids coming off the bench like Ian Gillespie, Mike Vanarendonk, Keaton Jordt - they made contributions which was critical for us. I was so pleased with the overall team."
The Braves offense went into the holiday break cold but Febach said his team has focused on playing strong defense, and that's the key to winning games.
But a big shot at the end never hurts, either.
"That's a great shot," Febach said about Salois' 3-pointer. "I asked him if he called 'bank' before he shot it. He said 'No.'"
Flathead 19 11 17 20 - 67
Whitefish 18 19 15 14 - 66
FLATHEAD - Danny Salois 3 0-0 8, Tanner Salois 3 0-0 7, Cody Bouley 2 1-1 5, Ian Gillespie 1 0-0 3, Karl Ingram 7 2-2 16, George Sherwood 4 1-1 10, Mike Vanarendonk 3 1-3 7, Tyler Hawkins 4 3-5 11. Totals 27 8-12 67.
WHITEFISH - Matt Whitehead 1 0-0 2, Aaron Tkaychk 3 3-5 12, Willie Roche 2 2-3 7, Marc Hotzfield 2 2-2 7, Connor Silliker 2 2-3 6, Colt Idol 9 3-4 23, David FauntLeRoy 3 3-5 9. Totals 22 15-22 66
3-pointers - Flathead 5 (D. Salois 2, T. Salois, Sherwood, Gillespie); Whitefish 7 (Tkaychk 3, Idol 2, Roche, Hotzfield); Totals fouls - Flathead 22, Whitefish 11; Fouled out - Flathead (Sherwood); Technicals - Whitefish (Tkaychk)