Tough go for Flathead vs. Hellgate in Western AA basketball
<p>Flathead junior GUARD Alex Croymans (10) watches Missoula Hellgate junior Devin Bray (24), who looks for an open player to pass to, during Saturday’s Western AA basketball game at Flathead High School. </p>
Missoula Hellgate used junior Tres Tinkle’s 23-point effort to top Flathead 62-26 Saturday evening for a Western AA basketball road win.
The first four minutes of the first quarter were back-and-forth with Flathead senior Blaine Newman hitting two consecutive three-pointers.
Unfortunately, the Braves couldn’t keep up with Hellgate as the Knights went on a 20-2 run to close out the opening period.
The lid remained on the hoop for Flathead, who scored just five second-quarter points, as Hellgate fell into a devastating 2-3 zone. Tinkle scored 18 points in the first half, and the Knights led 41-13 at the break.
“Hellgate gets the credit because they’re the defending state champion, but we also have to be able to hold our ground a little bit and battle back,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said.
Flathead junior Easton Johnson opened the second half with a deep trey, and Adam Bradley’s put back had the Braves starting the third quarter strongly.
Senior Tommie Owens’ steal and breakaway dunk gave the Flathead bench some life, but the hole was too much to overcome and both teams’ reserves were on the court late in the third quarter.
Owens saw plenty of playing time to the delight of Coach Febach.
“He’s coming off an injury, but I thought he was active out there. It was nice to see and I’m glad he’s back healthy,” Febach said.
Sophomore Matt Marshall hit a big three-pointer early in the fourth, but it was too little, too late as Hellgate cruised to the conference victory.
“We need to get ourselves together,” Febach added.
“We’ve got to come together after a loss like that and they need to realize the season isn’t over by any means.”
Newman finished with a team-high eight points. Marshall, Johnson and senior Chandler Escalante each added three points for the Braves.
Senior Matt Quist had a quiet scoring night, but he did manage to pull down a game-high eight rebounds.
With eight conference games remaining on the schedule, Flathead will look to recover on the road against Helena High on Friday at 7 p.m.
Hellgate 26 15 10 11 — 62
Flathead 8 5 7 6 — 26
MISSOULA HELLGATE— Tres Tinkle 9-16 3-3 23, Dylan Harvola 1-1 0-0 3, Rhett Baerlocher 1-3 0-2 2, Brady Henthorn 4-5 0-0 8, Josh Seaton 1-2 0-0 2, Schnek 2-2 2-2 6, Devin Bray 1-4 3-4 5, Pat Colberg 5-7 0-0 10, Packard 1-1 0-0 3, Totals 25-47 8-11 62.
FLATHEAD— Matt Marshall 1-3 0-0 3, Blaine Newman 3-10 0-0 8, Tommie Owens 1-1 0-0 2, Easton Johnson 1-2 0-1 3, Chandler Escalante 1-3 0-0 3, Trae Habel 1-1 0-1 2, Cody Norberg 0-4 1-2 1, Adam Bradley 1-3 0-0 2, Matt Quist 1-7 0-0 2, Totals 10-41 1-5 26.
3-point goals—Hellgate 4-15 (Tinkle 2-5, Harvola 1-1, Packard 1-1, Baerlocher 0-2, Seaton 0-1, Vandom 0-1, Bray 0-2, Colberg 0-1 Lebsock 0-1), Flathead 5-16 (Marshal 1-2, Croymans 0-1, Newman 2-5, Johnson 1-1, Cronk 0-4, Escalante 1-2, Norberg 0-1). Rebounds — Hellgate 26 (Baerlocher 7), Flathead 33 (Quist 8). Total fouls — Hellgate 10, Flathead 15. Technical foul — none. Fouled out — none. Steals — Hellgate 2 (Tinkle 2), Flathead 4 (Croymans, Cronk, Johnson, Owens 1. Blocks — Hellgate 2 (Colberg), Flathead 0. Turnovers — Hellgate 13, Flathead 24.