Bravettes clip Wildkats

Do you want to win this game or not?

That was the question Flathead Bravette coach Karly Tait had for her team on Saturday evening.

The situation was intense - with 3:48 left in a home nonconference matchup with Columbia Falls, the Wildkats, down early by as many by 11 points, now owned a one-point lead and had just called timeout.

Tait used those moments for a pep talk.

"I told the girls ‘you either want to win or you don't. This is your chance. But we're going to run out of time here,'" Tait said.

"From that point on, they responded and did what they needed to do. Emily Russell hit some huge shots for us to get us back ahead and Tess Brenneman knocked down free throws when she needed to," Tait said.

The result was a 55-49 Flathead victory.

"We had to step up and play better. Columbia Falls outhustled us for most of the game and we got into foul trouble and we had to pull through that," Tait said.

Russell scored five of her season-high 10 points in a span of 20 seconds and Brenneman was 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 1:23. Brenneman finished with 17 points, five assists, five steals and five rebounds.

"I just had confidence. Once I was making them, I felt like I didn't want to let my team down so I kept shooting," Russell said.

One of those was a 3-pointer that put Flathead ahead to stay.

"That was more of a spur of the moment thing. I just got (the ball) and I was open and shot it."

She swished it.

"That was pretty big. I felt like that was a turning point in our intensity for our game," the junior said.

"We didn't do a good enough job rebounding the ball. We have to work on that. We have to keep working and improving ourselves. But we got a win against a team that is much-improved and well-coached. You have to give them credit," she added.

It was all Flathead at the start.

Emma Andrews scored 10 of her 17 points in the first quarter as the Bravettes built a 17-6 lead.

"We were able to pressure them. But if we are going to pressure teams, we have to stay out of trouble," Tait said.

Flathead was whistled for 12 fouls in the first half - and by the time intermission rolled around Brenneman, Cassie Krueger and Jenessa Heine had three fouls apiece.

The Wildkats, meanwhile, bounced back with a huge second quarter to pull within four at half. By the time the third was done, it was anybody's game.

"I think that was the first time all year that I thought we played with the heart and desire we needed to play at and the level of intensity that we need to play at," said Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg.

"If we wouldn't have buried ourselves in the first half, it might have been a different game.

"I'm happy with the way we played. I'm not happy with the outcome. I'm not big on moral victories. But it's a step in the right direction for us. If we can play with that intensity and that desire, we're going to be fine," he said.

The next big question for the Wildkats is the next step, the coach said.

"Do we build on this, get better because of it? Or do we take another step back? We'll see.

"But I think for the girls ... hopefully the light came on. We gave ourselves a great chance to win tonight. It just didn't go our way," he said.

Haley Belgarde scored 15 points and had seven rebounds. Hope Burlage added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals and Andrea Getts also had seven rebounds.

Columbia Falls 6 11 16 16 - 49

Flathead 17 4 13 21 - 55

Columbia Falls - Ciera Finberg 0 1-2 1, Cortney White 1 0-0 2, Tori Price 1 0-0 2, Hope Burlage 2 9-12 14, Madison Sandefer 4 1-2 10, Andrea Getts 1 1-2 3, Haley Belgarde 4 7-12 15, Winter Kemppainen 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 21-33 49.

Flathead -Emma Andrews 5 5-7 17 Tess Brenneman 2 13-16 17, Emily Russell 4 1-2 10, Brittany Earnest 1 2-2 5, Cassie Krueger 0 2-4 2, Jenessa Heine 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 24-31 55.

3 -point goals: Columbia Falls 2 (Sandefer, Burlage), Flathead 3 (Andrews, Russell, Earnest. Total fouls: Columbia Falls 23, Flathead 25. Fouled out- Burlage, White, Andrews, Heine.