Flathead topples Helena in OT

Blaine Newman hit a three at the buzzer to force overtime and Flathead outscored Helena High 10-8 in the extra session to pick up a wild 78-76 Western AA boys basketball victory Friday night at Flathead High School.

Flathead trailed 20-2 in the early going, but rallied to cut the deficit to 13 at the half.

“We didn’t defend anybody,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said at the start.

“Fortunately we started picking it up a little bit.”

Febach said he stressed getting stops and rebounding at halftime.

“The kids in the second half did a super job of that,” he said.

Newman, who finished with 16 points, hit the trey from a “step or two” behind the line.

“And he was guarded,” Febach said.

Overtime was a back-and-forth affair until Newman scored on a putback to put Flathead on top for good.

“We hurt them in the second half with our inside game,” Febach said.

“Credit goes to my kids. My goodness ... we scored 27 points in the third quarter.

“They stepped up and played their hearts out in the second half,” he added.

“We pulled one out that probably shouldn’t have happened.”

The victory was the third straight in league play for Flathead (8-9 overall, 4-5 Western AA).

Adam Bradley had a super game for Flathead, going 9 for 9 from the field and hitting his lone free throw to finish with 19 points.

Will Cronk had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Matt Quist, on 6 of 9 shooting from the field, wound up with 12 points.

Flathead outrebounded Helena 25-20. The Braves had 11 turnovers to 15 for Helena.

Flathead is back in action today at 2 p.m. hosting top-ranked Helena Capital.

Helena High 26 19 12 11 8 — 76

Flathead 13 19 27 9 10 — 78

HELENA HIGH — Grimsrud 1-2 3-4 5, Tolman 6-11 5-6 20, Cochran 2-5 0-0 4, Arntson 3-5 2-2 9, Galt 10-15 1-4 21, South 2-3 2-3 6, Shein 4-4 2-2 10. Totals: 28-45 16-23 76.

FLATHEAD — Alex Croymans 0-1 0-0 0, Blaine Newman 6-14 2-2 16, Easton Johnson 4-4 0-0 8, Will Cronk 4-7 4-5 14, Chandler Escalante 2-7 0-0 4, Trae Habel 1-2 3-6 5, Adam Bradley 9-9 1-1 19, Matt Quist 6-9 0-0 12. Totals: 32-53 10-14 78.

3-point goals: Helena 4-6 (Tolman 3-4, Arntson 1-2), Flathead 4-12 (Newman 2-6, Cronk 2-3, Escalante 0-3); Rebounds: Helena 25 (Arntson 5), Flathead 20 (Habel 4, Quist 4); Assists: Helena 25 (South 7, Arntson 7), Flathead 29 (Cronk 11); Steals: Helena 7 (Arntson 3), Flathead 10 (Cronk 4); Turnovers: Helena 15, Flathead 11; Fouls: Helena 16, Flathead 20; Fouled out: None.