Shooting woes sink Bravettes

Twenty-six percent.

That was the Flathead Bravette shooting percentage on Friday night.

And that’s what had Bravette basketball coach Karly Tait pulling her hair out after a 59-41 Western AA loss to visiting Helena High (6-5, 4-0).

“You shoot 26 percent and that’s not going to win you ballgames,” Tait said.

“We’ve got to finish layups ... and it was everybody. It was a team effort on the missed layups because nobody was hitting them.

“But (Helena) is a good team. They play hard. The Williams (Kelsey and Kyndal) sisters shoot the ball well,” she said.

Kelsey Williams scored 19 points to lead the Bengals, while little sister Kyndal added 13 points and five assists.

The Bravettes (3-6, 0-3) had a nice enough start.

Helena missed its first three shots of the game, the Bravettes were winning the battle of the boards and the Bengals’ 6-foot-1 junior post Monica Grimsrud picked up her second foul just over one minute into the game.

That left Flathead’s 6-3 Danika Johnson as the tallest player on the floor — by far.

With 2:22 left in the first quarter, the game was tied at 8-all.

“It was a little better start, but then we let them get an eight- to 10-point lead and then we don’t make enough baskets to battle back,” Tait said.

The separation was quick.

With 1:50 to go, Kelsey Williams hit the first of her six field goals and Mariah Shein followed that with an old-fashioned 3-point play at the 1:02 mark.

That was the last time the Bravettes were close.

“Part of (the slow start) was the trip up here,” explained Helena coach Jason Murgel.

“We looked a little tired getting off the bus. But our girls usually respond pretty well after missed shots. We preach all the time in practice ... next play. We got in the flow of the offense and things really started to click for us tonight,” he said.

The second quarter was huge for Helena.

Kelsey Williams scored 10 points — including two three-pointers. Kyndal Williams added four points and the Bengals were up 34-16 at half.

“We had a lot of frustrations after the first half — little things we work on in practice that we don’t get done. We weren’t doing the little things right,” Tait said.

“So, we tried to fix those in the second half.

“We’ve got to play better defense and make sure we are patient on offense and shooting the ball with confidence,” she said.

The second half was better for Flathead. The Bravettes played Helena even — and even cut into the Bengal lead a bit.

“Give us a few more layups, six or six more layups and we’re right in it. So, I guess that’s kind of a good thing,” Tait said.

“We know we’re not an outstanding outside shooting team, so layups is where it’s got to be.”

Junior guard Sam Thompson responded best for the Bravettes. She scored 10 points for the game — eight in the third quarter.

“Sam Thompson finally stepped up and hit some outside shots, which kind of got us a little bit of momentum in the second half,” Tait said.

Tess Brenneman led the Bravettes with 11 points and eight rebounds. Johnson contributed eight points and 12 rebounds.

“I was pretty pleased with the performance of Kelsey Williams,  actually both Williams sisters,” Murgel said.

“Kelsey hit some big threes to help us get the lead. She was great on the boards. Kyndal had a great floor game. She had 10 points, five assists and got us in the flow of the offense.

“I thought we did a pretty good job on (Danika) Johnson tonight defensively, really shutting her down and making some of those other girls try to beat us,” he added.

Really, the only complaint Murgel had with the Bengals was their 17-for-35 effort at the free throw line.

“We missed a lot of free throws tonight, but I was pleased with our aggressiveness,” he said.

Helena     14     20     11     14 — 59

Flathead     8     8     12     13 — 41

Helena — Kelsey Williams 6 4-4 19, Mariah Shein 3 4-5 11, Mykaylee Verworn 0 0-3 0, Sydney Carpenter 0 5-6 5, Taylor Kanthack 3 0-5 6, Kyndal Williams 4 3-6 13, Elizabeth Hartley 0 0-2 0, Monica Grimsrud 2 1-4 5. Totals 18 17-35 59.

Flathead — Sam Thompson 5 0-2 10, Christyne Hanson 1 1-1 3, Tess Brenneman 2 7-8 11, Taylor Twichel 0 2-2 2, Taylor Keltner 0 1-2 1, Brittany Earnest 2 1-2 6, Danika Johnson 4 0-0 8. Totals 14 12-17 41.

3-point goals: Helena 6 (Kelsey Williams 3, Shein 1, Kyndal Williams 2), Flathead 1 (Earnest). Total fouls: Helena 17, Flathead 24. Fouled out: None.