Capital slips past Flathead

For the second time this season, the Flathead boys played neck and neck with Helena Capital but came up short. The Braves frustrated Capital all night but couldn't make enough shots at the end, losing 48-42 at home on Friday.

The Braves set the tone early, playing extremely tight defense, stealing the ball on their first three defensive possessions to open a 5-0 lead. After two quick buckets by the Bruins, Flathead seniors Matt McLean and George Sherwood wowed the crowd with a pair of athletic baskets. McLean spun through the lane to come out with a pretty layup and Sherwood took advantage of an excellent defensive play by Shea Schroeder, leaking out for a full-court pass and laying it in with a defender on his back.

"We played hard," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "We played really good defense. We played about as hard as we can defensively ... Every shot was challenged, every rebound was challenged. It's just one of those games where if you got any type of a small cushion it felt like 30."

Flathead led 14-11 after the first quarter, a lead that was narrowed just before the period ended when Capital's Cale Jacobsen nailed a contested 3-pointer with three seconds to play. Jacobsen gave the Bruins the outright lead early in the second period, stealing the ball and taking it the distance to give Capital a 15-14 lead less than a minute into the second.

A hanging jumpshot by Drew Crosby and a 3 by Chris Cronk, quickly gave the Braves the lead again, but their shooting went cold after that, especially from deep.

The Braves didn't score a basket for the final three minutes of the quarter, and hung on to the lead through sheer defensive effort, keeping the Bruins scoreless for the final four and a half minutes until Jacobsen got around the press, driving to hit a layup with just two seconds in the half, giving Capital a 24-23 lead at the break.

It was more back-and-forth in the third quarter with the seven lead changes between the teams. Flathead stymied any offensive flow the Bruins had, holding them without a field goal for the first two minutes of the quarter. Yet, every time the Braves were able to build a lead Capital would answer. That answer in the third was Bruin big man Slaten Long, who scored the final nine points for Capital, all on 3-pointers, tying the game or giving them the lead each time.

For its part, Flathead couldn't buy a bucket from deep. Trying to shoot over the Bruins zone in the second half, the Braves made just 1 of 14 shots from 3-point range in the second half, the one coming midway through the fourth when McLean spotted up outside to pull the Braves within one point at 38-37.

"We had some open looks," Febach said. "For much of the game we had some open looks that just didn't go down for us. They only gave us one shot most of the time, if we didn't make the shot they were rebounding it."

Sherwood, who missed the majority of the third quarter in foul trouble, gave the Braves the lead with 2:38 to play, following his own miss inside to put Flathead up 39-38.

That was the last field goal the Braves would hit though. Schroeder hit a pair of free throws that gave Flathead a 42-41 lead with two minutes left in the game but they were shut out after that.

Capital's Caleb Kidder hit what would be the winning bucket in the post with 1:45 to play and the Bruins iced the game on free throws. There was a chance for a Brave comeback when Capital missed the frontend of the first two trips to the line in the final minute but Flathead's deep shooting woes came up, ending the game.

"The kids played hard, shots just didn't drop for us," Febach said. "They made some plays down the stretch. You've got to give Capital credit, that's why they're No. 1 in our conference right now, their ability to win close games on the road."

This is the second close game the Braves have lost to Capital this season, losing by two in Helena in January.

McLean led the Braves with 11 points. Jacobsen and Long each finished with 11 for the Bruins (8-1 in Western AA, 12-5 overall).

"We got in foul trouble and had to make some adjustments," Febach said. "I credit the kids that came off the bench and gave us some quality time out there. It's a tough loss for us but we don't have a lot of time to think about it."

The Braves (4-5, 8-9) play Helena High today at 2:30 p.m.

Helena Capital 11 13 12 12 - 48

Flathead 14 9 10 9 - 42

CAPITAL - Cale Jacobsen 4 1-3 11, Slaten Long 3 2-2 11, AJ Wilson 2 3-4 8, Caleb Kidder 3 2-4 8, Bryson Smith 1 2-4 4, Carson Dummer 1 2-2 4, Gunnar Brekke 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 12-19 48.

FLATHEAD - Matt McLean 4 2-4 11, George Sherwood 3 3-5 9, Shea Schroeder 2 3-4 7, Chris Cronk 2 0-0 5, Nick James 1 2-2 4, Austin Jones 2 0-0 4, Drew Crosby 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 10-15 42.

3-point goals: Capital 6-18 (Long 3), Flathead 2-20 (Cronk, McLean); Rebounds: Capital 33 (Wilson 7), Flathead 28 (Schroeder 8); Fouls: Capital 14, Flathead 21. Technical fouls: Kidder. Fouled out: Sherwood, Jones.