Braves fall to powerhouse Hawks

BUTTE - Tanner Roderick and the Bozeman Hawks were modest at first, looking like a team that hadn't played a real basketball game in 13 days.

But that didn't last long.

The opening eight minutes were all the Hawks needed to settle back into playing like the team to beat at this week's Class AA state tournament.

Roderick directed the top-ranked Hawks to an overpowering 87-53 victory over Flathead in the opening round inside the Butte Civic Center on Thursday morning.

"Maybe they were a little nervous, a little too anxious to get going," Bozeman head coach Wes Holmquist said of the slow start in which the Hawks led 11-9 after the first quarter. "I wasn't worried that we weren't going to get it going. It was just a matter of time."

Bozeman (19-2) advances to today's state semifinals to play Billings Skyview, who rallied back big to beat Missoula Hellgate in the tournament opener, 47-43.

Flathead (10-11) drops to loser-out action today against the Knights at 9 a.m.

"The credit belongs to Bozeman. You have got to play extremely well to compete, let alone beat them," Flathead head coach Fred Febach said. "So if somebody's here that can challenge them I'm anxious to see that."

The stoic and collected play of Roderick set the confident tempo for Bozeman all game. Roderick ended with 18 points in limited action after the Hawks built a comfortable 40-21 halftime lead and outscored the Braves 47-32 in the second half.

"It's going to be a grind, you have to keep it up. Everything won't be given to us," Roderick said. "Not making state last year gave us a bunch of motivation for this game ... We leave it all on the court every game."

Senior Joe Pistorese led Flathead with 18 points and sophomores Shea Schroeder and Matt Tokarz each had eight in impressive individual performances.

"I give my kids credit for trying to battle in there. We did some good things at times," Febach said. "We struggled in that second quarter a little bit and that kind of put us in the hole deep."

The Braves failed to find an offense that could keep up with the high-octane Hawks, shooting only 12-for-31 from the floor (34 percent). Rebounding hurt, too.

Bozeman grabbed 40 boards and cashed in on second-chance shots all game. Flathead had 27 rebounds, led by Schroeder and Ian Gillespie with five apiece.

"They just flat killed us on the glass," Febach said. "If you don't defend and rebound you're going to find yourselves down big. And that's where we found ourselves. We dug a pretty big hole for ourselves."

Junior George Sherwood got into foul trouble early and Bozeman big man Lincoln Powers owned the key, scoring 17 points under the basket and grabbing 10 rebounds.

"They jumped in some full-court pressure and we didn't handle it well. And you have to handle it with a little more poise and little more discipline so that you can create some scoring opportunities for yourselves and we failed to do that," Febach said.

Gillespie finished with seven points, Mike VanArendonk scored six and Matt McLean had four along with Sherwood.

By the fourth quarter, Holmquist sat his starters to a standing ovation from the well-traveled Bozeman fans, who have had plenty to cheer about this school year.

Bozeman High is having quite the succesful school year. Bozeman has won state titles in boys and girls cross country, football and wrestling. If everything goes according to Hawk's fans plans, the school will add another this week.

"Every team wants to win state," Powers said. "We have to just go out there and play our game."

For an up-to-date look at the Class AA boys state basketball tournament, follow @djtabish on Twitter.

For full tournament coverage, read the Daily Inter Lake or go to www.dailyinterlake.com.

Bozeman 87, Flathead 53

Bozeman 11 29 23 24 - 87

Flathead 9 12 15 17 - 53

BOZEMAN (19-2) - Ryan Vanderpan 2-5 0-0 6, Tanner Roderick 7-16 3-4 18, Luke Miller 4-8 1-1 9, Brandon Rydberg 3-5 0-0 6, Lincoln Powers 5-10 7-8 17, Trevor Gappmayer 3-6 0-0 7, P.J. Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Sibary 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Olson 1-2 1-1 3, Collin Moriarty 2-3 0-0 6, Taylor Mullins 6-8 2-3 15. Totals 33-63 14-17 87.

FLATHEAD (10-11) - Mike Vanarendonk 2-5 1-2 6, Ian Gillespie 3-12 0-0 7, Joe Pistorese 6-10 4-5 18, George Sherwood 1-7 0-0 2, Scotty Keller 0-2 0-0 0, Matt Tokarz 2-3 4-6 8, Chris Cronk 0-0 0-0 0, Matt McLean 1-4 2-2 4, Austin Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Shea Schroeder 4-11 0-0 8, Garth West 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-55 11-15 53.

3-point goals - Boz 7-19 (Vanderpan 2-5, Roderick 1-3, Miller 0-3, Rydberg 0-1, Gappmayer 1-1, Olson 0-1, Moriarty 2-2, Mullins 1-3), Flathead 4-14 (Vanarendonk 1-2, Gillespie 1-4, Pistorese 2-4, Sherwood 0-2, McLean 0-2).

Rebounds - Bozeman 40 (Powers 10, Miller 8), Flathead 27 (Gillespie 5, Schroeder 5). Fouls - Bozeman 13, Flathead 17. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - none. Assists - Bozeman 9 (Roderick 4), Flathead 9 (Pistorese 6).

Turnovers - Bozeman 15, Flathead 22. Blocked shots - Bozeman 6 (Powers 3), Flathead 1 (Sherwood).

Steals - Bozeman 8 (Roderick 4), Flathead 9 (Schroeder 4).

Billings 47, Hellgate 43

Skyview 7 9 16 15 – 47

Hellgate 12 15 11 5 – 43

BILLINGS SKYVIEW (15-7) – Dallin Stott 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Furman 4-7 4-7 12, Tommy Little 1-1 1-2 3, Matt Davis 4-7 0-2 8, Danny Little 6-10 6-8 18, Kooper Kidgell 0-3 0-0 0, Conner Smyle 0-3 0-0 0, Connor Lebsock 0-1 0-0 0, Haakon Nordrum 3-4 0-0 6. Totals 18-37 11-19 47.

MISSOULA HELLGATE (15-7) – Ben Hartman 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Joscelyn 1-2 0-0 2, Connor Woodill 5-10 8-8 20, Zach Peevey 3-11 3-4 9, Jesse Ginn 4-9 0-1 8, Mitchell Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Kramer Ungaretti 0-0 2-2 2, Jake Arledge 1-4 0-1 2, Lucas Wittkopp 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-38 13-16 43.

3-point goals – BS 0-5 (Furman 0-1, Kidgell 0-2, Smyle 0-2), MH 2-8 (Woodill 2-5, Hall 0-1, Arledge 0-2). Rebounds – BS 24 (Little 9, Nordrum 7), MH 22 (Woodill 6, Peevey 4). Fouls – BS 16, MH 20. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none. Assists – BS 4 (Stott 2), MH 8 (Peevey 5). Turnovers – BS 14, MH 19. Blocked shots – BS 4 (Little 3), MH 1 (Woodill). Steals – BS 5, MH 6 (Woodill 2, Peevey 2).