Johnson guides Bravettes by Bulldogs, 49-35
<p>Flathead's Kylee Meredith is fouled as she goes up between Whitefish's Haley Nicholson (left) and Katie Fyall (11) during the second quarter of Friday’s nonconference basketball game in Whitefish. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
WHITEFISH — The upstart Whitefish Lady Bulldogs went toe-to-toe with the Class AA Flathead Bravettes early in their nonconference basketball game on Friday night, but couldn’t overcome Tiana Johnson’s 15 points as Flathead went on to take the season opener 49-35.
Whitefish (0-1) scored the first six points of the contest, four coming from freshman point guard Dani Douglas just inside the three-point line, and after one quarter the game was tied at 14.
The Bravettes (1-0) navigated a 15-5 run which lasted throughout the entire second quarter, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson and senior Lauren Clark.
Johnson, a junior, dropped 12 of her 15 points during the run, and once the Bravettes claimed the lead they never let it go.
“I thought we started off kind of rocky. We started off kind of flat, but eventually we built it up,” Johnson said.
“We have a lot of stuff to improve on, including our defense and our offense just being patient and waiting for the ball in order to get a good shot.”
Flathead sophomore Taryn Guiterez scored six of her eight points in the second half, where the Bravettes outscored Whitefish 14-5 in the third quarter.
“It was by committee tonight. Everybody has to get out there, get the bugs out and see who works well together in a game situation,” Bravettes head coach Lisa Hendrickson said.
“For tonight, we just had to work on a little of everything. We’re going to have to do it by committee.”
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs refused to roll over. Douglas opened up the period with a three-pointer and sophomore Haley Nicholson, who led the team with 12 points, added four in the final quarter as Whitefish used a 7-2 run to outscore Flathead.
“Haley is fun to watch. She is an absolute athlete,” Whitefish head coach Clint Peters said.
“I was proud of our girls. I thought we played pretty well. We competed. We competed for three and a half quarters, but all in all, I was thrilled with their effort and it’s just going to be about bringing everything together.”
Flathead is back in action today for a AA contest at Bozeman.
Whitefish will play in the Northwestern/Southwestern Tipoff Tournament next weekend in Missoula.
Flathead 14 15 14 6 — 49
Whitefish 14 5 5 11 — 35
FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 1-2 5, Janae Moon 2-4 4, Stephanie Wilson 1-4 3, Johanna Lembke 1-3 1, Cadelyn Nunn 0-0 2, Mary Heaton 0-1 2, Lauren Clark 0-0 3, Tiana Johnson 3-6 15, Jessica Simmons 0-0 2, Liz Lorentz 2-2 4, Taryn Gutierez 0-3 8.
WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 1-2 8, Allie Schulz 3-4 3, Katie Fyall 1-2 1, Mariah Drown 3-7 3, Anna Peterson 0-0 3, Haley Nicholson 7-11 12, Makenna Benbrook 2-4 2, Allix Larsen 1-2 3.