Capital rolls past Flathead
<p>Helena Capital senior Carson Dummer (42) shoots over Flathead senior Matt Quist (52) Saturday afternoon during Western AA basketball action at Flathead High School.</p>
<p>Flathead senior Adam Bradley (45) fouls Helena Capital senior Hunter Beto as he goes up for a shot Saturday afterrnoon at Flathead High School.</p>
Flathead’s three-game Western AA boys basketball winning streak came to a halt Saturday afternoon as top-ranked Helena Capital cruised to a 67-34 victory at Flathead High School.
Capital (17-1 overall, 10-0 league) bolted to a 45-19 halftime lead and never looked back.
Flathead (8-10, 4-6) was held to single digit scoring in every quarter but the first.
“Obviously they are ranked No. 1 for a reason,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said.
“They came to play and shot the ball well. We didn’t respond very well and got behind early.
“What’s overlooked is they play great team defense,” Febach said of the Bruins.
“They pressure the ball and don’t allow a team to get into their offense. They took us out of our game.”
Four Bruins finished in double-digit scoring, led by Kyle Nickol’s 17 points. Kyle Harrington tallied 14, followed by Carson Dummer with 11 and Hunter Beto with 10.
Matt Quist led Flathead in scoring with seven points. Will Cronk had six.
Capital was 25 of 43 shooting from the field and 7 of 14 at the charity stripe.
Flathead was 14 of 34 and 3 of 9.
Capital had just two turnovers to Flathead’s 14.
Capital held a slight edge on the boards, 25-21.
Capital won the first meeting with Flathead this season back on Feb. 8 in Helena, 63-37. The Bruins needed a big second half in that one to pull away.
Flathead did not have a player reach double-figure scoring in that meeting. Dummer led Capital in scoring in that contest with 18 points.
Flathead has two-regular season games on the schedule. Flathead travels to Missoula Hellgate on Thursday and hosts Glacier on Friday.
Helena Capital 24 21 20 2 — 67
Flathead 11 8 8 7 — 34
HELENA CAPITAL — Kyle Nickol 6-10 1-2 17, Casey Ebelt 1-2 0-0 3, Keegan Syvrud 0-1 2-5 2, Keeley Larson 1-1 0-0 2, Kyle Harrington 5-5 0-0 14, Sean Mulcahy 2-6 0-0 4, Hunter Beto 2-6 3-4 10, Jason Corne 2-2 0-0 4, Carson Dummer 5-10 1-1 11, Sam Bryggman 0 0-2 0. Totals: 25-43 7-14 67.
FLATHEAD — Alex Croymans 1-3 1-2 3, Blaine Newman 1-4 0-2 2, Easton Johnson 2-8 0-0 4, Will Cronk 2-4 0-0 6, Chandler Escalante 2-5 0-0 5, Trae Haqbel 1-2 1-2 3, Cody Norberg 1-2 0-0 2, Adam Bradley 1-2 0-0 2, Matt Quist 3-4 1-3 7. Totals: 14-34 3-9 34.
3-point goals: Capital 10-17 (Nickol 4-7, Ebelt 1-2, Syvrud 0-1, Harrington 4-4, Mulcahy 0-1, Beto 1-2), Flathead 3-9 (Croymans 0-1, Newman 0-2, Cronk 2-4, Escalante 1-2); Rebounds: Capital 25 (Dummer 7), Flathead 21 (Escalante 5, Quist 4); Assists: Capital 23 (Harrington 9), Flathead 14 (Escalante 4); Steals: Capital 4 (Nickol 2), Flathead 0; Turnovers: Capital 2, Flathead 14; Fouls: Capital 8, Flathead 10; Fouled out: None.