Flathead slips by C-Falls

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Flathead girls forced Columbia Falls into nearly 30 turnovers, stringing together a late run to edge past the Wildkats 42-40 on Friday.

The Bravettes’ pressure defense frustrated Columbia Falls in the second half. Leading by just two points with three minutes left in the game, Flathead guard Emma Andrews got steals at midcourt on back-to-back possessions, leading directly to four points, including the eventual game winner.

“Thank goodness for our press,” Flathead coach Karly Tait said.

Flathead struggled to score against the Wildkats’ zone defense, unable to find space inside and missing deep shots that would have loosened the zone.

“Our half-court offense was a little sluggish,” Tait said. “We’re not used to playing against the 1-3-1 (zone defense), and they did a good job in it.”

After leading for all but two minutes of the first half, the Wildkats fell into foul trouble and trailed by seven at the break. Columbia Falls outscored Flathead 13-4 to end the third quarter to tie the game at 32, but couldn’t keep up the pace, going scoreless for four minutes in the fourth to fall behind for good.

“We weren’t aggressive,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “It’s a game we should have won but unfortunately we didn’t. You don’t get them back.”

The Bravettes had trouble icing the win, making only 2 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter, including their final six, and going scoreless for the final three minutes.

“Not happy with the free-throw shooting at all,” Tait said. “That’s mental and we’ll have to figure it out ... We have to play better, especially against AA opponents.”

Flathead was tremendous on the offensive glass, picking up 20 of their 40 rebounds on the offensive end, leading to a wealth of second-chance points. The Bravettes also forced 29 turnovers while committing only 12.

“Our key this year is our defense,” Tait said. “We were scoring on our press and our defensive intensity. That has to continue and we have to find a way to knock down shots in the half-court offense.”

Emily Russell led the Bravettes with 17 points while Andrews chipped in 11.

“(Russell) always plays hard,” Tait said. “She’s really stepped up this year as a senior. She’s capable of shooting, she’s playing great defense. I’m just really happy with her contributions this year.”

Haley Belgarde had 17 for the Wildkats. Hope Burlage had six points and Ciera Finberg had five points, each fouling out in the fourth.

“We had our chances at the end but I don’t think we should have been there,” Finberg said. “You give up 28 possessions you should be getting your but kicked. A positive is I guess we didn’t.”

Both teams are back in action tonight. Flathead plays at Libby and Columbia Falls hosts Frenchtown.

Flathead 6 18 8 10 — 42

Columbia Falls 10 7 15 8 — 40

FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 3-20 5-7 11, Dani Davis 1-8 0-3 2, Emily Russell 7-12 3-5 17, Jessika Abbrescia 1-9 1-5 3, Jenessa Heine 3-9 3-7 9, Ronalae Rogers 0-3 0-0 0, Payton Pietron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 15-62 12-27 42.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Ciera Finberg 2-9 0-0 5, Tori Price 0-2 0-0 0, Hope Burlage 3-6 0-0 6, Winter Kemppainen 2-5 0-1 4, Haley Belgarde 8-12 1-5 17, Kaity Presnell 0-1 0-0 0, Miranda Livingston 0-2 0-0 0, Kathrin Jetty 0-5 2-4 2, Andrea Getts 2-6 2-3 6, Ally Gimbel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-49 5-13 40.