Basketball: Braves start strong, falter late
Missoula Sentinel went on a 16-6 run in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to earn a 58-47 Western AA road boys basketball victory over Flathead on Saturday night.
The Spartans were 12-15 from the free throw line in the final period of play as the Braves committed 11 second-half fouls.
Flathead started strong, outscoring Sentinel in the first quarter and navigating an 8-0 second-quarter run, emphasized by Flathead senior Matt Quist.
Quist stepped into a Spartan passing lane at the top of the key and elevated at the end of his breakaway with an emphatic one-handed slam that sent Braves fans into a frenzy.
The Spartans dismantled some of the Braves momentum just before the half, cutting the deficit to five. Sentinel senior Quaizhon Walker went coast to coast in the final six seconds and finished with an uncontested finger-roll just before the buzzer.
Flathead coach Fred Febach was wary of his team letting up on the gas pedal before the half ended.
“We played a solid first half up until the last couple minutes there,” he said.
“We had a 10-point advantage that was cut to five at halftime, so I felt the momentum had swung their way a little bit to start the second half.”
It wasn’t that Sentinel came out hot to start the second half. Instead, Flathead scored just seven points in the third quarter, and after Flathead’s Adam Bradley committed his fourth foul early in the final period, the Braves lost his presence down low while Sentinel began its attack of the Flathead rim.
“Defensively, we failed to pick up the intensity and it cost us,” Febach said. “It’s disappointing, but we can come back and we can get better.”
Sentinel junior Zaccheus Darko-Kelly made it a three possession game when he hit a three-pointer from the left corner with just under two minutes to play in the game. That seemed to deflate the moral of Braves fans, and Flathead never overcame the deficit.
Quist, aware of the team’s struggles, was hopeful for the future after last night’s loss.
“We didn’t play four quarters. We let up in the second half. The second half was all theirs, especially the fourth quarter,” Quist said. “We’re going to get a lot better this week. We’re going to pick practice up to game speed and start doing the little things right. We didn’t get a lot of second looks at the hoop tonight and that’s what we want to work on.”
Flathead has a full week to prepare for C.M. Russell before they travel to Great Falls next Saturday, and Febach is looking forward to the work week.
“We do have a long practice week coming up,” he said.
“We’ll work on our halfcourt execution against what teams have been doing against our offense and we’ll try to break it down so we have a better understanding as to what to look for and when to find it.”
Sentinel 11 13 13 21 — 58
Flathead 16 13 7 11 — 47
MISSOULA SENTINEL — Zacceus Darko-Kelly 3-4 2-2 10, Quaizhon Walker 2-4 2-2 6, Matt Warren 1-3 4-5 6, Kagen Khamenah 4-8 3-7 11, Sean Cangham 1-1 0-1 2, Austin Ciolette 2-3 3-4 7, Chase Walker 3-7 10-11 16, Jeremy Eisenmann 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 16-31 24-32 58.
FLATHEAD — Alex Croymans 1-1 1-2 4, Blaine Newman 3-9 2-2 9, Easton Johnson 1-3, 1-1 3, Will Cronk 2-4 2-2 7, Chandler Escalante 1-2 0-0 2, Adam Bradley 3-7 0-0 6, Matt Quist 7-13 2-5 16, Totals 18-39 8-12 47.
3-point goals--Sentinel 2-6 (Darko-Kelly 2-2, Walker 0-1, Warren 0-1, Khamenah 0-1, Walker 0-1), Flathead 3-10 (Croymans 1-1, Newman 1-4, Johnson 0-2, Cronk 1-2, Escalente 0-1). Rebounds- Sentinel 22 (Walker 9), Flathead 21 (Haebel 6). Total fouls-Sentinel 13, Flathead 23. Fouled out-none. Technical foul- Sentinel team. Steals- Sentinel 0, Flathead 0. Blocks-Sentinel 1 (Walker), Flathead 1(Croymans). Turnovers-Sentinel 13, Flathead 14.