Braves punch ticket to state
Flathead senior Ian Gillespie, 23, shoots for two during the second half of the game against the Helena Capital Bruins on Friday night in Kalispell. The Braves won the match up 59 to 47.
Flathead senior Joe Pistorese, 31, drives past a Bruins defender during the second half of their game on Friday night in Kalispell. The Braves won the match up 59 to 47.
The third quarter hasn't been kind to the Flathead Braves basketball team this winter.
Not to bring up bad times, but it was just last weekend that the Braves were outscored 22-7 in the third quarter by the Glacier Wolfpack.
"We've been having some troubles in third quarters in past games," said senior guard Joe Pistorese.
"I don't know what it is, but we haven't come out well in the third quarter all year," agreed senior forward Mike VanArendonk.
But this Friday night - in their own packed-to-the-gills gym with a trip to next week's Class AA state tournament in the balance - the Braves owned that period.
Flathead was down four at intermission, but outscored Helena Capital 17-5 to start the second half and came away with a 59-47 victory.
The Braves will face Eastern AA No. 1 Bozeman at 10:30 a.m. next Thursday at the Butte Civic Center.
Flathead (10-10) had three score double figures - Ian Gillespie 17, George Sherwood with 15 and Pistorese with 14.
"We came out, honestly speaking, in a simple 2-3 zone, packed it in tight and forced them to prove that they could hit outside shots on us," Febach said.
Not that the Braves didn't play zone in the first half - they did, a bit.
"But we were extending too high up. We were allowing too much dribble penetration, which was really hurting us. They were able to get shots inside. We wanted to pack it in and force them to look outside and the kids did a really good job of that," the coach said.
"They were getting the ball down low. We needed to front them a little bit," Pistorese said.
Once Flathead switched, the Bruin shooting percentage dipped from 36.4 percent in the first half to 20.7 percent in the second half.
"(The Bruins) struggled with that. We did a really good job of rebounding out of it, as well, which gave us some opportunities ... and ultimately we were able to build a lead and hang onto it," Febach said.
"I've got to commend my kids to have that ability to adapt at halftime, make that adjustment and play smart as a team," he added.
"We were just all clicking. We buckled down on defense and that created our offense," VanArendonk said.
The first half was a nail-biter, both teams trading baskets, with neither able to deliver anything resembling a knockout punch.
If there was any advantage, it appeared to belong to the Bruins. They were the ones driving, they were the ones getting to the free throw line (11-for-13 in the first half) and they were the ones who appeared ready to explode to a huge lead.
"I think we kind of had the jitters because of the big playoff game. We just needed to get a couple quarters out of the way, then we started to play ball," VanArendonk said.
The Braves got some tremendous individual moments - back-to-back 3-pointers by Gillespie and Pistorese in the first quarter and a huge second quarter three by Matt McLean reeled the Bruins in every time they appeared to be slipping away.
But Flathead also had foul trouble - Scotty Keller picked up his fourth with 2:58 left in the first half.
"I thought ‘oh, no. That just puts some pressure on our depth, because I had a couple other guys sitting on two or three,'" Febach said.
"Fortunately, we were able to play through that, play smart enough not to have a lot of other guys foul out.
"And kids still stepped in there and made some contributions for us.
"These kids played super smart in the second half. I really liked how they handled the press in the second half. When they brought full-court pressure, we made some mistakes against it, but we played with much more composure and with a better understanding of what we needed to do, which was to contol the ball and get to the line and shoot some free throws," the coach said.
Flathead wound up 15-for-18 from the line for the night. Not bad, considering it was 2-for-3 in the first half.
"It shows we stepped it up and did a really nice job," the coach said.
"Capital obviously is well coached," Febach added. "I really respect them. When you do beat them you've earned it. We earned a good win tonight."
Capital 12 15 5 15 - 47
Flathead 12 11 17 19 - 59
Capital - Bryson Smith 1 0-0 3, Gunnar Brekke 3 0-0 7, Quinn Chamberlain 3 0-0 6, Beau Berg 0 1-2 1, AJ Wilson 1 9-10 11, Levi Dawes 1 2-2 4, Slaten Long 5 5-5 15. 14 17-19 47.
Flathead - Mike VanArendonk 1 0-0 2, Matt McLean 2 0-0 6, Ian Gillespie 5 4-5 17, Joe Pistorese 5 3-3 14, George Sherwood 5 5-6 16, Shea Schroeder 0 2-2 2, Matt Tokarz 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 15-18 59.
3-point goals: Capital 2 (Smith, Brekke), Flathead 6 (McLean 2, Gillespie 3, Pistorese 1). Total fouls: Capital 19, Flathead 20. Fouled out: Chamberlain, Keller. Rebounds: Capital 34 (Kidder 7), Flathead 32 (VanArendonk 9). Assists: Capital 9 (Wilson 3, Long 3), Flathead 11 (VanArendonk 3); Blocks: Capital 0, Flathead 3 (No leader). Steals: Capital 4 (No leader), Flathead 11 (Sherwood 3).