Bravettes fall to Sentinel

The Flathead Bravettes opened Western AA conference play with a 66-24 loss to defending state champion Missoula Sentinel at Flathead High School Thursday.

Flathead (2-2, 0-1 Western AA) shot just 16 percent from the field and struggled to slow down Sentinel’s faced-paced offense, which raced out to a 26-point lead by the end of the second quarter and was similarly dominant in the second half.

While it was a tough way to begin conference play, Flathead forward Emily Russell said facing one of the state’s top teams right off the bat showed the Bravettes every conference game is going to be tough.

“It definitely sets the expectation of what the rest of conference play is going to be like,” Russell said.

“We need to come ready to play against tough teams like that and play our best basketball, which we didn’t do tonight.”

Russell entered the game as Class AA’s leading scorer (14.0 points per game), but finished with just five points on 2 of 6 shooting. Emma Andrews led Flathead with 11 points while shooting 4 of 16 from the field.

Five-foot-11 forward Olivia Roberts powered the Sentinel (6-0, 1-0) offense, scoring a game-high 19 points, including 11 in the first half. A dynamic offensive player, Roberts knocked down 2 of 4 three-point attempts, 3 of 4 free throws and converted multiple layups from the low post.

Thursday’s game was the first for both teams after the holiday break. The Bravettes hadn’t played a varsity game in nearly three weeks and Flathead coach Karly Tait said her team looked rusty.

“We didn’t shoot very well,” she said. “We’ve got to shoot better, shoot with confidence. We’ve just got to keep working.”

Sentinel broke a 3-3 tie midway through the first quarter with an 11-0 run that included four points from Roberts and a three-pointer by Brianna Olson.

Flathead closed out the opening quarter with an Andrews floater and a Russell layup, but Sentinel regained its momentum early in the second frame.

After an Andrews three-pointer, Sentinel scored 12 straight points to take a 30-10 lead. Andrews split a pair of free throws to end Flathead’s five-minute scoring drought before Sentinel finished the half with a 7-0 run.

The second half was more of the same, with Flathead struggling to create high-percentage shots and Sentinel pushing the pace in transition so the Bravettes couldn’t set up their 2-3 zone defense.

Roberts finished with a game-high eight rebounds.

Andrews and Jenessa Heine each pulled down six rebounds for Flathead.

The Bravettes continue conference play Saturday with a road game against Missoula Big Sky, which is 3-3 overall and 0-1 in Western AA after losing to Glacier Thursday.

“We’ve got to come out ready to play, come out and play harder, learn from our mistakes and go beat Big Sky on Saturday,” Tait said.

Sentinel 16 21 18 11 — 66

Flathead 7 4 8 5 — 24

SENTINEL - Liz Harper 3-9 0-1 6, Madeline Keast 1-7 3-4 5, Lexi Steele 0-5 0-0 0, Olivia Roberts 7-13 3-4 19, Amanda Bearmedicine 4-6 0-0 9, Elly Jones 2-4 0-0 5, Brianna Olson 2-7 5-6 10, Haley Rogers 1-1 0-0 2, Sam Harper 3-5 0-0 6, Darbi Anderson 1-2 2-2 4, Emily Beach 0-0 0-0 0.

FLATHEAD - Emma Andrews 4-16 2-6 11, Dani Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Russell 2-6 1-3 5, Jessika Abbrescia 0-8 3-4 3, Jenessa Heine 2-11 1-2 5, Becca Marshall 0-0 0-0 0, Tana Fountain 0-4, 0-0 0, Payton Pietron 0-5 0-1 0, Amber Lucas 0-0 0-0 0.

3-pointers - Sentinel 5-10 (Roberts 2), Flathead 1-5 (Andrews). Rebounds - Sentinel 48 (Roberts 8, Bearmedicine 7), Flathead 35 (Andrews 6, Heine 6). Assists - Sentinel 8 (Keast 3, Steele 2), Flathead 4 (Abbrescia 2, Russell, Heine). Blocks - Sentinel 0, Flathead 0. Steals - Sentinel 13 (Liz Harper 3, Keast 3, Steele 3), Flathead 13 (Abbrescia 4, Andrews 2, Davis 2, Pietron 2). Fouls - Sentinel 19, Flathead 14. Technical fouls - none. Fouled out - Davis