Prep Basketball: Braves get back on track

by The Daily Inter Lake
| February 14, 2010 2:00 AM

Following an eye-opening setback in Missoula earlier this week, the Flathead Braves got back on track and climbed into a tie for second place in the Western AA basketball ranks on Saturday.

Sophomore George Sherwood scored nine of his 14 points in the first quarter and the Braves grabbed a 47-37 win against visiting Missoula Big Sky on Saturday.

Karl Ingram had nine points and nine rebounds, Joe Pistorese and Jeremy Grosswiler added six points apiece and the Braves used a strong defense and a well-balanced offense to pick up their third win in four games and improve to 5-3 in conference and 9-6 overall.

“Big Sky is so scrappy and they fought back but our boys did a real nice job of just maintaining their composure,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said. “Any time you can hold a AA team to only 37 points is good.”

Flathead got trashed by Western AA leader Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday 65-29 but rebounded on Saturday to move next to Glacier (5-3, 11-5) and Helena Capital (5-3, 9-7) in the standings.

Tanner Salois returned after missing a game with a foot injury and scored four points and Connor Tice had five points and five rebounds off the bench for the Braves. Mike VanArendonk added three points.

Flathead is at home for the final four regular-season games, starting with next Friday’s showdown with Capital. The Braves follow with Helena (4-4, 7-9), Glacier and Missoula Hellgate (1-7, 4-11).

Missoula Big Sky 6 13 8 10 — 37

Flathead 14 8 13 12 — 47

BIG SKY — Drew Owens 3 2-5 8, Cole Baker 0 1-2 1, Ryan Devlin 2 2-4 6, Jordan Schafer 1 2-2 4, Jason Neibergs 1 0-0 2, Eddie Apostal 2 0-0 4, Aaron Koster 3 3-6 9, Eric Deneault 1 0-0 3, Devin Nooney 0 0-0 0, Mitch Colyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 10-18 37.

FLATHEAD — Tanner Salois 1 2-2 4, Karl Ingram 2 5-5 9, Joe Pistorese 3 0-2 6, George Sherwood 6 1-3 14, Mike VanArendonk 1 1-2 3, Connor Tice 2 1-2 5, Jeremy Grosswiler 3 0-0 6, Shea Schroeder 0 0-0 0, Ian Gillespie 0 0-0 0, Dean Stimpson 0 0-0 0, Scotty Keller 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-16 47.

3 point goals — Big Sky 1 (Deneault), Flathead 1 (Sherwood); Rebounds — Big Sky 34 (Owens 7, Schafer 5), Flathead 37 (Ingram 9, Tice 5); Turnovers — Big Sky 9, Flathead 15; Team fouls — Big Sky 17, Flathead 17; Fouled out — Ingram

Ronan 62, Bigfork 56 OT

RONAN — Kevin Wroblewski made a game-tying shot with 15 second left in regulation and carried the scoring on into overtime as Ronan dealt Class B’s second-ranked team its second loss in as many days.

Wroblewski finished with 19 points — five coming in overtime — and also had eight rebounds and five steals while Justin Dustybull had 12 points for Ronan (6-11 overall).

Evan Jordt paced the Vikings (15-3) with 13 points and Christian Ker followed with 12.

Bigfork 17 13 10 10 6 — 56

Ronan 15 14 8 13 12 — 62

BIGFORK – Lael Richmond 9, Ian Lorang 10, Evan Jordt 13, Travis Knoll 7, Cody Dopps 2, Christian Ker 12, Keenan Evans 3.

RONAN – Jarod Tanner 6, Gordon North Piegan III 8, Robert Gauthier 2, Marcus Hungerford 3, Lucas Black 8, Justin Dustybull 12, Kevin Wroblewski 19, Colton Cheff 4.

Columbia Falls 58, Whitefish 31

WHITEFISH — Nick Emerson and Austin Barth combined for 30 points and No. 2 Columbia Falls held rival Whitefish to six points in the first half before improving to 7-0 in conference.

Emerson had 16 points and eight rebounds while Barth added 14 points and six rebounds. Kyle Howell chipped in 12 for Columbia Falls (15-2).

“I thought the kids were very focused from the start,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “It was a good win. I thought defensively we were very aggressive and played together well. It was a solid effort for 32 minutes.”

The Wildcats led 26-6 at intermission and forced 22 turnovers in the game.

Mac Roche and Gage Vasquez scored eight apiece for Whitefish (1-6, 5-12).

Columbia Falls 10 16 14 18 — 58

Whitefish 2 4 15 10 — 31

COLUMBIA FALLS — Devyn Rocker 1 0-0 3, Kyle Howell 5 0-0 12, Nick Emerson 8 0-0 16, Chris King 1 0-0 2, Parker Johnson 1 1-2 3, Tim Spencer 1 2-3 4, Austin Barth 6 2-4 14, Jacob Calderwood 0 0-1 0, Michael Williams 1 1-2 4. Total 24 6-12 58.

WHITEFISH — Mac Roche 2 2-2 8, Kyler Blades 1 0-0 3, Cole Havens 1 0-0 2, Gage Vasquez 3 2-2 8, Cooper Olson 1 0-0 3, Connor Silliker 1 4-8 6, Drew Galbraith 0 1-2 1. Totals 9 9-14 31.

3-point goals — Columbia Falls 4 (Howell 2, Rocker, Williams), Whitefish 4 (Roche 2, Blades, Olson); Team rebounds — Columbia Falls 32, Whitefish 25; Turnovers — Columbia Falls 8, Whitefish 22; Team fouls — Columbia Falls 14, Whitefish 14; Fouled out — Galbraith.

Polson 59, Libby 34

LIBBY — The Pirates jumped out to a 20-7 lead after the first quarter and cashed in 10 3-pointers for the game to defeat the Loggers in Northwestern A play.

Tyler Krell scored 12 points, Vince DiGiallonardo had three treys and 11 points and Polson hiked its record to 4-2 in conference and 10-7 overall.

Kyle Bagnell added 10 points and Tim Rausch nine for the Pirates.

Kelly May paced the Loggers (3-4, 7-9) with 11 points.

Polson 20 6 18 15 — 59

Libby 7 4 11 12 — 34

POLSON — Vince DiGiallonardo 4 0-0 11, Kyle Bagnell 4 0-0 10, Sheldon Fisher 2 2-2 7, Tim Rausch 3 1-2 9, Louis Mohr 3 0-0 7, Derrick Rathe 1 0-0 3, Tyler Krell 4 4-5 12. Totals 21 7-9 59.

LIBBY — TJ Benson 2 0-0 4, Cree Maloney 2 0-0 5, Kelly May 3 2-2 11, Garrett Craig 1 0-0 2, Nate Broden 3 0-0 6, Alex Cislo 3 0-0 6. Totals 14 2-2 34.

3-point goals — Polson 10 (DiGiallonardo 3, Bagnell 2, Rausch 2, Fisher, Mohr, Rathe), Libby 4 (May 3, Maloney); Team fouls — Polson 10, Libby 11; Fouled out — None.

Girls

Missoula Big Sky 47, Flathead 31

MISSOULA — Elleson Tinkle had 19 points and 14 rebounds as the Eagles came alive offensively in the second half to defeat the struggling Bravettes in Western AA action.

Flathead held Big Sky to only 15 points in the first half but couldn’t muster any of its own offense as the girls trailed 15-12 at intermission.

Danika Johnson led the Bravettes (0-8 in conference, 3-12 overall) with 13 points and nine rebounds and Tess Brenneman added six points.

Flathead heads to Helena next weekend for conference matchups with Capital on Friday and Helena High on Saturday.

Flathead 4 8 9 10 — 31

Big Sky 8 7 17 15 — 47

FLATHEAD – Sam Thompson 0 0-1 0, Danika Johnson 5 3-5 13, Tess Brenneman 3 0-0 6, Megan Jones 0 0-0 0, Brittany Earnest 2 1-2 5, Christyne Hanson 0 1-2 1, Taylor Twitchel 0 0-0 0, Taylor Keltner 1 0-0 2, Ashlee O’Dell 1 0-0 2, Kwyn Johnson 0 0-0 0, Cassie Krueger 1 0-0 2, Kelsey Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 5-10 31.

BIG SKY – Sarah Lidstrom 1 0-0 2, Stephanie Carl 1 3-4 5, Elleson Tinkle 7 5-6 19, Kelsey LaVaute 0 0-0 0, Katie Showers 4 0-0 8, Megan Chansler 3 0-1 6, Tali Hart 0 4-4 4, Alexandra Soos 0 0-0 0, Danielle Sheridan 1 0-0 2, Lauren Dombrouski 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 13-17 47.

3-point goals – Flathead 0, Big Sky 0. Total fouls – Flathead 16, Big Sky 12. Fouled out – Showers. Rebounds – Flathead 34 (D. Johnson 9), Big Sky 34 (Tinkle 14). Turnovers – Flathead 19, Big Sky 12.

Columbia Falls 64, Whitefish 25

WHITEFISH — Kayla DeWit scored 22 points and sister Kelsey knocked in 19 as the Wildkats made quick work of Whitefish in Northwestern A play.

Columbia Falls outscored Whitefish 24-3 in the opening quarter and improved to 6-0 in conference and 11-5 overall.

Danielle Gilley, Brooke Cady and Shay Grilley each scored six apiece for the conference-leading Wildkats.

Danielle McCully had eight points and Mariah Kanistanaux chipped in six for Whitefish (1-8, 1-16).

Columbia Falls 24 14 14 12 — 64

Whitefish 3 7 12 3 — 25

COLUMBIA FALLS — Danielle Gilley 3 0-2 6, Ashli Fairbank 0 2-4 2, Kayla DeWit 10 1-5 22, Allie Lampman 0 3-4 3, Brooke Cady 3 0-3 6, Shay Grilley 3 0-0 6, Kelsey DeWit 7 5-7 19. Totals 26 11-25 64.

WHITEFISH — Olivia Nagler 0 1-2 1, Jessica Slaybaugh 0 2-8 2, Mariah Kanistanaux 2 2-4 6, Karissa DeMarco 1 0-0 2, Shelby Backer 2 0-1 4, Danielle McCully 3 0-0 8, Olivia Curtiss 0 2-2 2. Totals 8 7-17 25.

3-point goals — Columbia Falls 1 (Kay. DeWit), Whitefish 2 (McCully 2); Team fouls — Columbia Falls 14, Whitefish 20; Fouled out — Nagler, Backer, Curtiss.

Libby 53, Polson 46

LIBBY — Alysha Martin scored 11 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Loggers edged the Lady Pirates and moved into a tie for second in Northwestern A.

Jackie Mee chipped in 11 points and Logan Best added nine for Libby (4-2 in conference, 11-5 overall).

Sierra Pete led Polson (4-2, 12-4) with 13 points and Breanne Kelley scored 10.

Polson 9 6 14 17 — 46

Libby 6 15 10 22 — 53

POLSON — Mariah Hamel 2 4-5 8, Sierra Pete 5 3-4 13, Breanne Kelley 4 2-2 10, Riley Kenney 2 4-4 8, Kayla Duford 1 0-0 2, Nicole Davey 2 0-2 4, Heidi Rausch 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 14-19 46

LIBBY — LaRona Luscher 3 0-0 7, Alysha Martin 6 2-2 16, Jaime Gilden 2 0-0 4, Logan Best 4 1-2 9, Jackie Mee 3 4-6 11, Alex Kulbeck 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 7-10 53

3-point goals — Polson 0, Libby 4 (Martin 2, Luscher, Mee); Team fouls — Polson 10, Libby 14; Fouled out — None.

Bigfork 52, Ronan 16

RONAN — Mallery Knoll had nine points, Quinci Paine added eight and No. 9 Bigfork rolled past Ronan in nonconference play thanks to scoring from nine players.

The Valkyries (15-3 overall) led 24-9 at the half.

Bigfork 12 12 16 12 — 52

Ronan 5 4 5 2 — 16

BIGFORK – Mallery Knoll 9, McKinze Schults 5, Quinci Paine 8, Kirsten Campbell 3, Lila Cenis 4, Taylor Peck 6, Melissa VanDerveer 4, Caitlin Charlebois 7, Kailey Fierro 6.

RONAN – Courtney Clairmont 1, Taylor Lynch 3, Jonna Grant 4, Alice VanGruten 2, Nina Orozco 2, Katie Andrews 2, Tailyr Andrews 2.