Basketball: Flathead buries Bulldogs
<p>Flathead defenders Tiana Johnson and Lizzie Sherwood surround Whitefish guard Allie Schulz Tuesday night during Flathead's victory over Whitefish at Whitefish High School. Dec. 10, 2013 in Whitefish, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Flathead's Tommie Owens grabs a rebound underneath the Whitefish basket Tuesday night during Flathead's victory over Whitefish at Whitefish High School. Dec. 10, 2013 in Whitefish, Montana. (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
WHITEFISH — The Flathead boys basketball team bounced back from Saturday’s season-opening loss to Coeur d’Alene (Idaho) with a 50-28 win over Class A Whitefish in an inter-class matchup Tuesday.
Hot shooting fueled a 20-3 Flathead (1-1) run in the first quarter and the Braves cruised to victory. Center Adam Bradley and guards Chandler Escalante and Blaine Newman each scored nine points to pace the Braves.
“I think the key to our great start was the fact that we had such a rough start to our season against Coeur d’Alene and we had a long talk on the bus about how we were going to fix this against Whitefish,” Escalante said. “We just wanted to come out with a fire and we came out with a fire, got a bunch of defensive stops and a bunch of good shots. I feel like that is what fueled our great start and fueled our great game.”
Escalante and Newman each drilled two 3-pointers in the first quarter, but Whitefish (0-1) extended its 2-3 zone and held Flathead to six points in the second quarter as the Braves continued shooting from the perimeter instead of using the space underneath.
“We got impatient,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said. “We started taking shots that weren’t really necessary. We needed to move the ball a little bit more, make their zone work a little bit harder. Our shot selection was not very good in the second quarter for awhile but we remedied that at halftime and did a much better job in the third quarter.”
Escalante opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, then Bradley went to work inside and converted a three-point play that put the Braves ahead 32-8.
Whitefish outscored Flathead 14-9 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome Flathead’s torrid start.
Garrett Anderson, a 6-foot-8 transfer from Flathead, led Whitefish with 10 points. Keaton Nicholson scored seven and Hugh Ramlow added five.
Flathead outrebounded Whitefish 38-18. Six-foot-8 Flathead forward Matt Quist tallied a game-high 10 rebounds and Bradley grabbed nine.
“We didn’t have anybody in double figures, but we had a lot of guys score and a lot of guys made contributions,” Febach said. “It was fun for us because I thought we played well as a team.”
Flathead hosts a nonconference game against Libby on Friday. Whitefish will play in the Northwestern A/Southwestern A tip-off tournament Friday and Saturday.
Flathead 20 6 15 9 — 50
Whitefish 3 3 8 14 — 28
FLATHEAD — Chandler Escalante 9, Blaine Newman 9, Adam Bradley 9, Trae Habel 6, Easton Johnson 6, Matt Quist 5, Tommie Owens 4, Will Cronk 2.
WHITEFISH — Garrett Anderson 10, Keaton Nicholson 7, Hugh Ramlow 5, Alex Wilson 2, Art Doorn 2, EJ Havens 2.
GIRLS
Flathead 60, Whitefish 12
WHITEFISH — Flathead’s transition offense feasted on turnovers and the Bravettes routed the Whitefish in an inter-class matchup.
Flathead opened the game with a 20-0 run and led 44-3 at halftime. Emma Andrews led all scorers with 13 points and scored nine consecutive points in the first quarter to help Flathead open up a 12-0 lead.
“We had a few things that we came in here planning to work on and we actually executed them pretty well,” Andrews said. “I think tonight we got better as a team and we’re looking forward to the next game.”
Flathead guard Jessica Simmons scored 10 of her 12 points in the second quarter, including eight in a row in a stretch that extended Flathead’s lead to 35-3.
Flathead freshman Tiana Johnson scored nine points and 10 different Bravettes ended up on the scoresheet.
“Every day we have to get better,” Flathead coach Lisa Hendrickson said. “We haven’t seen a zone, so it was kind of nice to be able to work against the zone and put in some new stuff. That’s all we have to do, get better every day.”
The second half flew by thanks to a running clock that began when Flathead’s lead reached 40 points.
Whitefish opened the third quarter with a 4-0 mini-run on scores from Katie Fyall and Mariah Drown and the Bulldogs outscored Flathead 7-5 in the frame. The Bravettes reasserted their dominance in the fourth quarter when a left-handed layup from Janae Moon sparked a 7-0 run to end the game.
Whitefish was playing with just one upperclassman, senior Simone Craft, as 6-0 junior Myndi Holbrook can’t play until she participates in 10 practices. Freshman Victoria Buls led the Bulldogs with three points and four others scored two.
“I think we’ve got a long way to go,” Whitefish coach Clint Peters said. “It’s a young team, they’re still working on learning how to play basketball.”
Flathead hosts Libby on Friday while Whitefish will participate in the Northwestern A /Southwestern A tip-off tournament Friday and Saturday.
Flathead 20 24 5 11 — 60
Whitefish 2 1 7 2 — 12
FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 13, Jessica Simmons 12, Tiana Johnson 9, Kelsey Noland-Gillespie 6, Janae Moon 6, Jenessa Heine 4, Zoe Loudermilk 3, Bri Smith 3, Tana Fountain 2, Lizzie Sherwood 2.
WHITEFISH — Victoria Buls 3, Haley Nicholson 2, Allie Schulz 2, Katie Fyall 2, Mariah Drown 2, Anna Peterson 1.