West hangs on, beats Braves

BOZEMAN — They nearly did it again.

Trailing by 22 points with 10:53 left in the ballgame, Flathead went on a 23-7 run over the next 7:44 and nearly clipped heavily favored Billings West in the Class AA state boys basketball title game on Saturday night. But, the comeback fell short, with the Braves losing 61-48.

“We started playing,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said.

“We’ve done that all year long. We dig ourselves a hole, and this one was pretty huge, and then we make a rush.”

The Braves were down 43-21 with 2:53 left in the third quarter when they made their run. Chris Cronk made a nice move to the basket and was fouled on a layup to start them off. Though he didn’t make the free throw, he ended an 8-0 run by the Bears and gave Flathead a boost of energy they didn’t have to that point.

Garth West hit a bucket in the post the next trip down and sophomore Chandler Escalante nailed a 3-pointer to close the third quarter with a 7-0 Flathead run, cutting the lead to 43-28.

“The kids I brought in off the bench gave us a spark,” Febach said.

“We got out there, got going a little bit. We were able to attack better and obviously we got some shots out of it.”

Flathead cut the lead to 10 a few minutes into the fourth, going on a 6-1 run capped by a driving layup by senior George Sherwood. After six quick points by West boosted the lead back to 50-34, the Braves made a second push.

Escalante hit a 3 and a pair of free throws sandwiching a free throw by Shea Schroeder, cutting the deficit back to 10. Then Sherwood took control, hitting a jump hook from 12-feet out and stealing the ball seconds later, driving in for a layup to narrow the lead to just 50-44 with three minutes left in the game.

The next trip down the floor, senior point guard Matt McLean, who led the Braves with 11 points at the time, fouled out, taking one of the Braves’ most lethal shooters and important leaders off the court.

The Bears hit 9 of 12 free throws over the next two minutes to ice the game.

“When Matt fouled out that’s huge for us,” Febach said.

“We needed him on the floor.

“That’s basketball sometimes. Sometimes you get the call, sometimes not. But I really appreciate the fact that these kids played for each other. The effort was certainly there and so was the attitude.”

For the better part of three quarters, the Braves didn’t look good. West was running away with a physical matchup.

The Bears shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, and hit 42 percent from behind the arc to mount a 33-19 lead at halftime. The Braves defense started the game forcing turnovers on the Bears first seven possessions, but couldn’t seem to get a stop afterwards.

Foul trouble also plagued the Braves, as they racked up 13 in the first two quarters, with six players holding two fouls at the break. That came back to haunt Flathead late, with four players needing to play heavy minutes with four fouls in the second half.

“We were our own worst enemy at times,” Febach said. “That happens. That’s part of basketball.”

Sherwood finished with 12 points to lead the Braves. Al Michael Olszewski had a team-high five rebounds.

The Braves graduate seven seniors, who led the team to the best finish since 2003.

“I know it hurts right now to lose this particular game,” Febach said. “But for what they’ve accomplished for the season, for themselves and for Flathead High School, that can’t be underscored. They did a great job.”

Billings West 17 16 10 18 — 61

Flathead 10 9 9 20 — 48

BILLINGS WEST – Nathan Smith 2 5-8 9, Andrew Campbell 2 4-5 8, Brandon Mciver 1 6-8 9, Danny Robison 6 6-9 19, Brady Gustafson 2 1-3 5, Clay Compton 2 4-4 9, Pat Barnett 0 0-0 0, Stewart Harris 0 0-0 0, Josh Zeller 0 0-0 0, Nate Deming 0 0-0 0, Daniel Betcher 0 0-0 0, Jared Samuelson 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 26-37 61.

FLATHEAD – Matt Tokarz 2 0-0 4, Matt McLean 2 5-5 11, George Sherwood 6 0-2 12, Austin Jones 2 0-0 4, Shea Schroeder 1 1-2 3, Chris Cronk 1 0-1 2, Blaine Newman 0 0-0 0, Drew Crosby 0 0-0 0, Al Michael Olszewski 0 0-0 0, Nike James 0 0-0 0, Chandler Escalante 2 2-2 8, Garth West 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 8-12 48.

3-point goals – West 3-11 (Mciver 1-4, Robison 1-1, Compton 1-3), Flathead 4-16 (McLean 2-5, Escalante 2-2). Total fouls – West 15, Flathead 28. Fouled out – McLean. Rebounds – West 27 (Gustafson 8), Flathead 21 (James 5), Turnovers – West 16, Flathead 18.

Consolation championship

Missoula Hellgate 53, Helena Capital 39

Hellgate 10 16 8 18 — 53

Capital 9 10 9 11 — 39

Missoula Hellgate (13-11) – Brady Henthorn 3-4 0-0 7, Brendan Jones 3-7 0-0 8, Jake Arledge 5-7 1-2 14, Zach Peevey 8-16 1-2 17, Lucas Wittkopp 4-5 0-0 8, Dylan Harvalis 0-2 0-0 0, Luke Bewley 0-2 0-0 0, Andy Nemec 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Booi 0-0 0-0 0, Kagen Khameneh 0-0 0-0 0, Pat Colberg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals – 23-43 2-4 53.

Helena Capital (16-7) – Bryson Smith 2-5 0-0 5, Gunnar Brekke 1-4 2-2 5, AJ Wilson 5-12 1-2 15, Slaten Long 0-8 2-2 2, Caleb Kidder 1-2 0-2 4, Hunter Beto 0-0 0-0 0, David Lindgrin 2-6 0-0 6, Kyle Harrington 0-0 0-0 0, Levi Dawes 1-2 0-0 2, Carson Dummer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals – 12-39 7-17 39.

3-pointers – Hellgate 5-12 (Henthorn 1-1, Jones 2-5, Arledge 2-3, Peevey 0-1, Harvala 0-1, Bewley 0-1) Capital 8-20 (Smith 1-4, Brekke 1-1, Wilson 4-10, Long 0-2, Lindgrin 2-3). Rebounds – Hellgate 28 (Peevey 8, Arledge 7) Capital 17 (Brekke 3). Assists – Hellgate 8 (four with 2) Capital 4 (four with 1). Blocks – Hellgate 1 (Peevey) Capital 2 (Long 2). Steals – Hellgate 6 (Peevey 5) Capital 7 (Wilson 4, Brekke 2). Turnovers –Hellgate 8, Capital 11.