Bravettes bounce Wildkats
<p>Flathead’s Emma Andrews goes in for a layup to finish off a fast break Tuesday night during the Bravettes’ win over Columbia Falls at Flathead High School.</p>
The Flathead girls locked down Columbia Falls on defense, running away in the second half with a 49-35 victory.
The Bravettes’ pressure defense gave Class A’s top team fits all night Tuesday, forcing the Wildkats into 27 turnovers. The pressure, along with Flathead’s zone defense, also kept Columbia Falls from getting many good looks at a shot, scoring just one field goal in the first quarter and five total in the second half.
“Our defense really stepped up,” Flathead coach Karly Tait said. “We caused some turnovers and capitalized on them ... We still have some work to do and some improvements to make, but we have to rely on our defense because we have some quick girls.”
Senior guard Dani Davis used her speed to pick up six of Flathead’s 16 steals, leading the break with five assists. The aggressive defense out front fed the Bravettes’ offense, jump starting 7-0 and 12-2 runs to begin each half.
“We started both halves very poorly and dug ourselves a hole against an aggressive, physical team,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.
“Their press caused us trouble. Our lack of aggressiveness caused us trouble. For some reason mentally when we play AA teams, we back down ... That’s something this girls program has to get over.”
Flathead’s offense was also able to get inside the Wildkats zone and get to the free-throw line, where it took 21 shots, albeit making just 10.
“Being aggressive, attacking, that’s what you have to do against that 1-3-1, look to attack and try to draw some fouls,” Tait said. “We got to the line, which is good, but we have to make them.”
Columbia Falls made the game interesting in the second quarter, going on a 7-0 run to close the lead to one point, eventually tying the game minutes later. The Kats trailed by two at halftime but were sluggish coming out in the third and trailed by double-digits for most of the second half.
“We knew they were going to come out to get us,” Tait said. “They’re good. We had a great first quarter ... We came out hard in the second half and did what we needed to do.”
Emma Andrews scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Bravettes. Haley Belgarde scored 10 to lead Columbia Falls.
The Bravettes (4-3) will host Polson (2-7) in another cross-class clash on Thursday. Columbia Falls (7-3 overall, 3-0 Northwestern A) looks to regroup at Frenchtown (7-3, 3-1) on Saturday. The Wildkats beat Frenchtown 45-43 earlier this season.
Columbia Falls 5 14 8 8 — 35
Flathead 11 10 14 14 — 49
COLUMBIA FALLS — Ciera Finberg 1-5 0-0 2, Tori Price 0-2 2-2 2, Hope Burlage 3-6 2-3 8, Winter Kemppainen 0-2 3-6 3, Haley Belgarde 3-4 4-6 10, Kathrin Jetty 1-5 2-3 4, Andrew Getts 3-5 0-3 6. Totals: 11-33 13-24 35.
FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 10-20 5-7 25, Dani Davis 3-7 0-0 6, Emily Russell 3-10 1-2 7, Jessika Abbrescia 1-6 0-3 2, Jenessa Heine 2-9 2-7 6, Tana Fountain 0-4 2-2 2. Totals: 19-58 10-21 48.
3-pointers — CF 0-3, Flathead 0-4. Rebounds — CF 38 (Belgarde 7), Flathead (Russell 10). Assists — CF 4 (Finberg, Burlage 2), Flathead 8 (Davis 5). Blocks — CF 0, Glacier 0. Steals — CF 3 (Finberg 2), Flathead 16 (Davis 6). Fouls — CF 15, Flathead 21. Tecnical fouls — none. Fouled out — none.