Flathead girls defeats Bengals in OT
The Flathead Bravettes outscored the Helena High Lady Bengals 11-6 in overtime to hang on for a 55-50 Western AA basketball victory at home on Saturday afternoon.
Flathead senior Jenessa Heine, whose double-double featured a game-high 12 rebounds, banked in a three-pointer for the first points in the extra period.
The post player was poked in the eye at the end of the fourth quarter, but still managed to make the shot from behind the arc that sent an already rambunctious Flathead crowd into a frenzy.
“Honestly, I could barely see because of my eye,” Heine said with a smile. “I thought I was open so I threw it up there and it went in.”
Although Heine’s shot came as a surprise to most, it did have the approval of her coach, Lisa Hendrickson.
“I was right behind her, she was open and I said ‘take it,’” Hendrickson said.
After a stop on defense, Bravettes senior Emma Andrews drove the lane from the top of the key and finished with a layup to grow the lead to five.
With both teams in the double-bonus in overtime, Heine hit two free-throws before Helena’s Callie Kanthack did the same.
But it was too little, too late for the Lady Bengals (6-8 overall, 1-5 league), and Flathead (4-10, 1-5) held on for the win.
Andrews finished with 14 points and teammate Tana Fountain had 13 for the Bravettes.
“I was really proud of how we put everything together from practice that we’ve been working on,” Fountain said. “There were a lot of people that haven’t played as much varsity time that got in, got points and assists. It was a great team effort.”
Helena held a one-point lead after the first quarter, but the Bravettes went on a 16-4 run in the second quarter, where Fountain hit two huge treys, and led at the break, 29-17.
The Lady Bengals tightened up on defense in the third, holding Flathead to just five points in the quarter. Helena senior Regan Fruh scored seven of her game-high 18 points in the period and finished with a double-double.
After Helena’s Jenna Starke hit two free-throws with 1:57 left to play in regulation, the Lady Bengals led 43-42. It was their first lead since the first quarter.
The Bravettes regained the lead on freshman Tiana Johnson’s put-back, but Fruh hit a free-throw to tie the game with 57 seconds remaining.
Helena stopped Flathead on the following possession and called timeout with 11 seconds to left in regulation. The inbound play was ineffective as a contested shot hit the rim and was rebounded by Flathead, leading to the game into overtime.
“Coach has been telling us they we need to step up our rebounding. I just knew I needed to crash the boards in order to get the win,” Heine added.
The Bravettes heeded the coaches advice, as they pulled down 52 rebounds in the contest.
“It was a team effort, and that’s what’s exciting about it,” Hendrickson said. “So many people stepped in and contributed. We had some lulls and [Helena] came back, but we ended up persevering and that was exciting to watch.”
Flathead will hope to stay in the win column when Missoula Sentinal comes into town on Friday at 7 p.m.
Helena 12 5 13 14 6 — 50
Flathead 11 18 5 10 11 — 55
HELENA — Jenna Starke 2-4 4-6 8, Regan Fruh 7-11 4-10 18, Callie Kanthack 4-10 3-6 11, Alyssa Ferguson 2-9 0-4 6, Shanna Floerchinger 0-6 3-6 3, Jessica Stockton 2-5 0-2 4, Totals 17-51 14-34 50.
FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 4-13 6-10 14, Montana Fountain 4-12 3-6 13, Tiana Johnson 4-7 0-1 8, Jenessa Heine 6-8 3-10 16, Lizzie Sherwood 1-2 0-2 2, Janae Moon 0-2 2-2 2, Totals 19-46 14-31 55.
3-point goals — Helena 2-15 (Ferguson 2-8), Flathead 3-13 (Fountain 2-7, Heine 1-1). Rebounds — Helena 29 (Fruh 11), Flathead 52 (Heine 12). Assists — Helena 6 (Crawford 2, Ferguson 2), Flathead (Andrews 3). Blocks — none. Steals — Helena 14 (Sh. Floerchinger 5), Flathead 21 (Andrews 6, Johnson 6). Fouls — Helena 19, Flathead 27. Fouled out — Flathead, Fountain, Sherwood, Heine. Technical fouls —none.