Growing pains continue for Flathead
The growing pains continue for Flathead's young boys basketball crew.
The Braves suffered another bout of offensive woes Friday.
They had two starters on the bench in the opening quarter with foul trouble, and they never recovered in falling to Helena High 57-36 in a Western AA contest at FHS.
Flathead, 1-2 league and 2-9 overall, was outscored 14-2 in the opening stanza and never found an offensive rhythm. The largest lead for Helena High, 2-2 and 4-6, was 22 points.
"That's two games in a row we've started out so slow on offense," Flathead coach Fred Febach said.
"But give credit to Helena. They made us pretty uncomfortable out there. They did a nice job."
Helena High's Justin Teegarden led all scorers with 16 points. Adam Johnson had 10 points and a Bengal high nine rebounds.
Flathead had the honor of scoring first, a free throw by Connor Tice at the 5:23 mark. The Braves, however, went scoreless for another three minutes until Tice sank another free throw.
Flathead starters Karl Ingram, a 6-foot-2 junior center, and George Sherwood, a 6-4 freshman center, both picked up two fouls and joined Febach on the bench early in the first quarter.
Sherwood was back on the bench with 3:09 left in the half with three fouls.
"When two of your bigger kids get in foul trouble, it makes it doubly tough," Febach said.
"That put more pressure on our defense."
Flathead shot just 17 percent from the field in the opening half, trailing 30-16.
"You don't win too many games if the ball doesn't go in the hole," Febach said.
"That put way too much pressure on the defense."
Ingram, who had a team-high 12 points, did not score until 3:47 was left in the opening half. He broke the ice with two free throws.
Ingram's first field goal came almost 1:30 later in the paint. He was fouled and made the following free throw for a traditional three-point play.
Ingram also pulled down nine rebounds, which was another team best.
Ian Gillespie had five assists to pace Flathead.
Febach was pleased that his team did battle until the very end. The Braves and Bengals both finished with 35 rebounds.
The Braves managed to put together two better quarters offensively in the second and third, which results in 29 points.
"The potential is there," Febach said.
"We just have to continue to work hard at it."
Flathead's two first-quarter points matched a season low of two versus Missoula Sentinel on Jan. 13. The Braves had just 11 points at halftime of that game and lost 77-34.
Flathead is back in action today against Helena Capital, 4-1 league and 7-4 overall. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m.
"I do expect them to (bounce back)," Febach said.
"These kids are pretty resilient."
Helena High 14 16 19 8 - 57
Flathead 2 14 15 5 - 36
HELENA HIGH - Nick Trapp 1 2-2 4, Adam Johnson 3 3-5 10, Justin Teegarden 5 4-4 16, Zach Carpenter 3 3-4 9, Tyler Wiedeman 3 0-0 6, Tyler Hulse 3 0-2 6, Dylan Simac 2 0-1 4, Curtis Anderson 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 12-18 57.
FLATHEAD - Tanner Salois 1 0-0 2, Ian Gillespie 1 0-0 3, Karl Ingram 4 4-5 12, Jesse Bennett 1 0-0 2, George Sherwood 3 1-2 7, Mike VanArendonk 2 2-4 6, Connor Tice 0 2-4 2, Greg Seaman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 9-15 36.
3-point goals: Johnson, Teegarden (2), Gillespie; Team fouls: Helena High 14, Flathead 18; Fouled out: Bennett.