Bravettes blow by Bulldogs

One hundred percent effort.

That was the theme for the last week for the Flathead Bravette basketball team.

“All week in practice, it was 100 percent effort, getting after each other no matter what,” said Flathead head coach Karly Tait.

It showed — on the scoreboard and on Tait’s smiling face after Friday night’s 58-20 nonconference win over visiting Whitefish.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy to get a win,” Tait said.

“We’re happy. I’m totally proud of them. Everybody stepped up and contributed in some way. Our intensity definitely was there and that’s what we worked on all week.

“But the season isn’t over. We’ve got work to do still,” she hastened to add.

She plans another tough practice on Monday to get the Bravettes ready to face Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday.

But for the weekend at least, the Bravettes were savoring the victory.

Flathead (0-0, 2-3) had four girls in double figures — Taylor Twichel led all scorers with 12 points, but Brittany Earnest added 11 and Tess Brenneman and Danika Johnson had 10 apiece.

“Taylor Twichel stepped up and knocked down some big shots,” Tait said.

“We’ve got to have girls in there to do that when they are in a zone like that, taking away our inside game. We’ve got to have people who are willing to shoot and knock down a couple shots to drag them out to open the middle up again,” she said.

Tait added compliments to Earnest and Johnson for their play down the stretch, to Brenneman for her all-around play, to Sam Thompson for her defense and to Christyne Hanson for her offensive effort off the bench.

“I thought everybody did well. No complaints,” she said.

As a team, the Bravettes took a whopping 64 shots — and made 42 percent. They also had 17 assists and 15 steals.

Defensively, they held Whitefish (0-6) scoreless in the first quarter — and to four points in the first half.

The score was 29-4 at half and 40-12 after three quarters.

But to the Bulldogs’ credit, they never gave up and they brought a level of intensity that kept Flathead working hard.

“Whitefish was very intense as well. Coach (Sean) Duff has done a good job with those girls,” Tait said.

“They don’t give up. Our heart and our intensity is definitely something we strive for,” Duff said.

“But we’ve got to be able to hit some shots, especially before we get ourselves in a hole. We haven’t been able to,” he said.

“If the ball bounces a little differently that first quarter, it’s only 8-0 (instead of 13-0). We get great looks, but then the wheels fall off. All of a sudden, we’re down 12-0, 15-2. You’ve got to keep that same composure.

“Defensively the first half, I thought we played pretty well. But you’ve got to be able to score on the other end of the court, besides just play defense,” Duff said.

“It’s not an excuse to say we’re young ... but we are really young. They’ve still got great attitudes and they are hard-working kids and they believe what we’re doing is going to pay off,” he said.

“As long as they can keep their spirits up, sustain our goals that we’ve set for the year and believe in what we’re doing, I really think the sky is the limit. Building a program doesn’t happen overnight.

“But you can’t fault our girls. They competed hard,” he added.

Whitefish     0     4     8     8 — 20

Flathead     13     16     11     18 — 58

Whitefish — Olivia Nagler 1 1-4 3, Taylor Havens 0 1-2 1, Jessica Slaybaugh 2 0-1 5, Jordan Carper 1 0-0 2, Karissa DeMarco 0 2-2 2, Jessica Poe 0 0-2 0, Shelby Backer 0 4-8 4, Danielle McCully 0 1-2 1, Olivia Curtiss 1 0-0 2. Totals 5 9-21 20.

Flathead — Sam Thompson 3 0-3 6, Christyne Hanson 2 1-2 6, Tess Brenneman 5 0-2 10, Taylor Twichel 6 0-1 12, Megan Jones 1 1-2 3, Brittany Earnest 5 1-1 11, Danika Johnson 5 0-0 10. Totals 27 3-11 58.

3-point goal: Whitefish 1 (Slaybaugh), Flathead 1 (Hanson). Total fouls: Whitefish 19, Flathead 19. Fouled out: None.