Flathead rallies past Great Falls, 67-60

Flathead battled through a sluggish first half to rally past visiting Great Falls High for a 67-60 boys basketball victory on Saturday in the Class AA nonconference season opener for both teams.

Great Falls roared to a 20-9 first-period edge and led 36-25 at the half.

"They jumped on us early," Flathead coach Fred Febach said.

"A bad first quarter and first-game stuff kind of came into play there."

The Braves did turn it around offensively and defensively in the final half.

"We did a much better job controlling the tempo and moving the ball," Febach said in the third and fourth quarters.

George Sherwood led a balanced Braves' offense with 23 points. The bulk of those points came at the free throw line where he was 16-of-20.

Matt McLean added 16 points and Matt Tokarz 15.

McLean was 4-of-9 from 3-point range.

Flathead had just 14 field goals in the contest, but was 33-of-48 free throw shooting.

"A huge comeback win for us," Febach said.

"The thing that turned it around for us was our defense. We played much better team defense. Offensively, we were patient. That was huge in the second half."

Great Falls High was led by Lukas Vinning, 14 points, and Dylan Tatarka, 12.

Flathead had 22 turnovers to 16 for the Bison. The Braves held a big edge on the boards, 39-22.

Sherwood had nine rebounds, Tokarz eight and McLean seven.

Great Falls 20 16 12 12 - 60

Flathead 9 16 25 17 - 67

GREAT FALLS - Lukas Vinning 4 4-4 14, Tre Keels 2 2-3 7, Lane Beyl 3 3-4 9, Shyke Smalls 5 0-0 10, Kolby Sukut 2 2-3 6, Dylan Tatarka 5 2-2 12. Totals: 21 15-19 60.

FLATHEAD - Chris Crokn 1 4-4 7, Austin Jones 0 1-4 1, Matt McLean 5 2-4 16, Matt Tokarz 4 7-9 15, Albert Olszewski 0 3-4 3, George Sherwood 3 16-20 23, Garth West 1 0-2 2. Totals: 14 33-48 67.

3-point goals: Vinning (2), Keels; Cronk, McLean (4), Sherwood. Team fouls - Great Falls 29, Flathead 19. Fouled out: Tatarka.