C.M. Russell boys manhandle Flathead
By DILLON TABISH/The Daily Inter LakeThe Rustlers sure know how to squash a potential win streak.
The Great Falls C.M. Russell boys basketball team rode into town and defeated the Flathead Braves 62-35 on Saturday, a day after Flathead won its first game of the season in Whitefish.
Sophomore Kurtis Parsons came off the bench and scored 14 points, Josh Huestis threw in 11 and Jordan Harper added 10 for CMR (4-0).
"Any time you come up here after four hours on the road and get a win it's always big," Rustlers coach John Cislo said afterward. "This is just a tough place to play … so I felt pretty good about it."
CMR outscored Flathead 31-9 in the second and third quarters and built a 25-point lead heading into the final eight minutes.
"If it wasn't for our defense tonight, getting some steals, getting some run-outs, it's a lot closer game," Cislo said.
Karl Ingram led Flathead with 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. George Sherwood netted nine points and grabbed eight boards, and Tanner Salois chipped in six points for the Braves (1-4), who were without senior starting forward Tyler Hawkins after he twisted his ankle the night before in the Braves' 67-66 victory.
Both teams were deadlocked early with CMR taking a 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. But in the second quarter, the Rustlers offense thawed out and went on a 7-0 run. Unlike the night before, Flathead failed to keep up.
"I think CMR is awfully good. I was very impressed with their defense," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "They flat got after us. We had trouble getting into any kind of offense and when we did, they challenged everything. We had to work hard just making passes let alone getting shots."
The Rustlers were preseason favorites to finish first in Eastern AA, and Febach said they looked the part on Saturday.
As for Flathead, Febach said his Braves have work to do, but they will put the loss behind them.
"With young teams, you're going to have peaks and valleys," he said. "Last night was a peak, today was a big valley. But that's not to say that we can't come back and compete at a high level in our next game and that's what we're looking to do."
Great Falls CMR 13 16 15 18 - 62
Flathead 10 5 4 16 - 35
Great Falls CMR - Wyley Agamenoni 3 0-0 7, Alex Waltari 0 0-1 0, Payton Skawinski 2 2-4 6, Alex Martinez 1 1-2 3, Jade Klette 2 0-0 4, Jordan Harper 5 0-1 10, Josh Huestis 4 3-3 11, Kurtis Parsons 5 2-2 14, Tanner Bleskin 3 0-0 6, Kyle Copelan 0 0-1 0, Greg Oswood 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 9-16 62.
Flathead - Keaton Jordt 0 0-1 0, Danny Salois 0 4-7 4, Tanner Salois 3 0-0 6, Cody Bouley 0 2-2 2, Karl Ingram 4 2-3 10, George Sherwood 3 3-4 9, Connor Tice 0 0-2 0. Totals 12 11-20 35.
3-point goals - Great Falls 3 (Parsons 2, Agamenoni), Flathead 0; Rebounds - Great Falls 48, Flathead 32; Team fouls - Great Falls 22, Flathead 18; Fouled out - None; Technicals - None.