Bravettes bounce back, drill Hellgate in basketball

Flathead jumped out to a 14-2 advantage and never looked back in crushing Missoula Hellgate 51-34 in Western AA girls basketball action Saturday night at FHS.

Flathead led 28-13 at the break.

"Tonight was a total team effort," Flathead coach Karly Tait said.

"We got off to another great start and did a better job with rebounding and shot selection.

"We have to continue to work on the little things as we enter the second half of the conference season," Tait added.

"I was proud of the team for pulling together and playing to win after the tough loss on Thursday (37-33 to Glacier)."

Tess Brenneman led the Bravettes (7-7, 2-4) in scoring with 11 points. Emma Andrews was next with 11.

Missoula Hellgate 2 11 8 13 - 34

Flathead 14 14 15 8 - 51

MISSOULA HELLGATE - Lara Gunderson 0-3 0-0 0, Sophie Hainline 1-2 0-0 2, Kelsey Meagler 4-8 0-0 8, Nettie Pen 3-7 0-2 7, Jenae White 0-2 0-2 0, Hydee Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Lexi Dre 3-8 1-2 7, Makayla Resner 0-1 0-0 0, Jillian Adams 3-5 3-4 9. Totals: 14-38 4-10 34.

FLATHEAD - Emma Andrews 5-11 0-4 10, Tess Brenneman 4-8 2-2 11, Brittany Earnest 2-7 0-0 4, Cassie Krueger 0-1 0-0 0, Jenessa Heine 3-7 2-2 8, Emily Russell 2-3 0-0 4, Megan Jones 2-3 0-0 4, Kelsey Davis 0-3 2-4 2, Ashlee O'Dell 3-10 2-2 8, Malia Ozegovich 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 21-55 8-14 51.

3-point goals-Pen; Brenneman; Rebounds- Hellgate 29 (Meagler 7); Flathead 36 (Krueger 8); Assists-Hellgate 9 (Meagler 4), Flathead 20 (Andrews 7); Steals- Hellgate 4, Flathead10 (Andrews 6); Turnovers- Hellgate 13, Flathead 6; Team fouls-Hellgate 10, Flathead 10; Fouled out-None.

Frenchtown 53,

Libby 14

FRENCHTOWN - Top-ranked Frenchtown (13-1, 6-0) used a big first half to thump Libby (3-12, 1-5) in Northwestern A conference play.

Frenchtown led 31-6 at intermission.

Sarah Lester paced the victors with 13 points.

Libby 6 0 5 4 - 14

Frenchtown 15 16 18 4 - 53

LIBBY - Alyssa Walker 2, Kelsey Klin 3, Hailey Kraig 3, Taylor Quinn 2, Kim Tangen 4.

FRENCHTOWN - Abby Indreland 4, Vanessa Stavish 10, Kayla Blood 4, Emma Oostdyk 12, Holly Jacobs 8, Sarah Lester 13, Morgan Ray 2.

Eureka 50,

Thompson Falls 42

EUREKA - A 22-point third quarter fueled Eureka (8-8, 5-2) to an eight-point District 7B victory over Thompson Falls.

Eureka used a full-court press to start the second half, which led to six steals. The Blue Hawks were limited to five points in the third quarter.

Carli Allen led the Lions in scoring, 14 points, and rebounding, eight.

Cassidy Morgan had 12 points for Eureka.

Thompson Falls 12 7 5 18 - 42

Eureka 12 9 22 7 - 50

THOMPSON FALLS - Kelsey Fitchett 12, Erica Sorlie 2, Leann Lantz 6, Allison Vaught 7, Mara Hanks 4, Logan Beckman 11.

EUREKA - Alex Holland 6, Makayla Grove 2, Alyssa White 9, Alex Petora 5, Caitlin Larson 2, Cassidy Morgan 12, Carli Allen 14.

Polson 48,

Columbia Falls 39

POLSON - Heidi Rausch led an inspired Lady Pirate second half as Polson beat Columbia Falls in Northwestern A action.

Polson outscored the Wildkats 30-21 in the second half. The teams were tied at halftime.

Rausch had a double-double scoring 11 points and pulling in 11 rebounds. Riley Kenney led the Pirates (11-3, 4-1) in scoring with 14. Hope Burlage had 14 to lead the Wildkats (4-11, 2-4).

Columbia Falls 6 12 7 14 - 39

Polson 9 9 15 15 - 48

COLUMBIA FALLS - Hope Burlage 14, Haley Belgarde 8, Kathryn Jetty 6, Winter Kemppainen 5, Ciera Finberg 2, Tori Price 2, Madison Sandefer 2.

POLSON - Riley Kenney 14, Heidi Rausch 11, Mariah Hamel 10, Mackenzie Banner 6, Hallie Hovenkotter 4, Jordan Quinn 2, Anna DiGiallonardo 1.

Boys

Missoula Hellgate 55, Flathead 50

MISSOULA - The Flathead boys dug themselves another hole, falling behind 34-24 after three quarters. The Braves made a comeback late, scoring 26 points in the final quarter, but fell short in the Western AA contest.

George Sherwood led the Braves (6-8, 2-4) with 14 points.

Flathead 8 10 6 26 - 50

Hellgate 9 13 12 21 - 55

FLATHEAD - Matt Tokarz 1 2-2 4, Matt McLean 2 2-2 8, George Sherwood 5 3-4 14, Austin Jones 2 1-1 5, Shea Schroeder 3 2-2 8, Chris Cronk 3 1-1 7, Drew Crosby 0 2-2 2, Al Michael Olszewski 0 2-2 2, Nick James 0 0-0 0.

HELLGATE - Brady Henthorn 4 0-0 10, Brendan Jones 1 9-11 12, Jake Arledge 2 3-6 7, Zach Peevey 4 4-6 12, Lucas Wittkopp 5 0-3 10, Dylan Harvala 1 0-0 2, Kagen Khameneh 1 0-0 2, Kyle Booi 0 0-0 0, Kole Swartz 0 0-0 0, Pat Colberg 0 0-0 0.

3-point goals - Flathead 3-12 (McLean 2, Sherwood), Hellgate 3-6 (Henthorn 2, Jones). Total fouls - Flathead 23, Hellgate 19. Fouled out - Cronk, McLean, Arledge. Rebounds - Flathead 14 (Schroeder 6), Hellgate 27 (Peevey 8).

Eureka 69,

Thompson Falls 53

EUREKA - Ryan Holder led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds and Tanner Blakers added 15 points and dished out six assists as Eureka dropped Thompson Falls in a District 7B matchup.

Eureka (6-9, 4-3) led 35-21 at the half.

Chris Ibach had a team-high eight assists for Eureka.

Thompson Falls 9 12 14 18 - 53

Eureka 15 20 14 20 - 69

THOMPSON FALLS - Jaron Laws 7, Chris Heart 2, Cody Phillips 5, Garrett Reinschmidt 18, Ross Dalby 6, Dominique Hole 6, AJ Pavlik 5, Nick Crumrud 4.

EUREKA - Dalton Smith 4, Tanner Peterson 4, Ryan Holder 20, Tanner Blankers 15, Mark Good 2, Chris Ibach 6, Cameron Griffin 4, Bryton Guckenberg 4, Alex Schmelez 8, Miles Griffin 3.

Frenchtown 49,

Libby 27

FRENCHTOWN - Frenchtown pulled away for good in the third period, outscoring Libby 18-4 in the Northwestern A victory.

John Chapman led Frenchtown (4-10, 2-4) with 16 points. Kyle Cyr had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Jared Winslow hit 16 points for Libby (2-12, 0-6).

Libby 4 10 4 9 - 27

Frenchtown 13 9 18 9 - 49

LIBBY - Michah Germany 4, Jared Winslow 16, Nolan Broden 2, Craig Nelson 3, Barak Lapka 2.

FRENCHTOWN - John Chapman 16, Daniel Lebsock 6, Jackson Mahlum 2, Kyle Cyr 13, Giacomo Mirrangio 6, Austin Blank 6.

Columbia Falls 43, Polson 42

POLSON - Parker Johnson hit a running five-footer with 15 seconds to play and Anthony Correa blocked a last ditch effort by Polson's Cody Fischer as No. 5 Columbia Falls escaped with the Northwestern A win.

Johnson scored 16 points to lead the Wildcats and Correa added nine as Columbia Falls won its seventh straight game. Zach Camel led the Pirates with 17 points.

Polson big man Tyler Krell, a leading scorer all season for the Pirates, left the game early in the first quarter with a knee injury.

The Pirates shot just 3 for 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Columbia Falls 6 20 7 10 - 43

Polson 17 15 0 10 - 42

COLUMBIA FALLS - Parker Johnson 16, Anthony Correa 9, Luke Kazlauskas 6, Ronny Gallegos 5, Alex Presnell 3, Austin Barth 2, Jared Trinastich 2.

POLSON - Zach Camel 17, Ian Laimbeer 7, Vince DiGiallonardo 6, Riley Sampson 5, Will Davey 4, Tyler Krell 2, Cody Fischer 1.