BASKETBALL: Bison too much for Braves
<p>Flathead's Kye AuClaire passes the ball as he is swarmed by Great Falls defenders Daniel Silverstein (5) and Kellan Romsa during the Braves' 65-47 loss at home Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Flathead's Micah Bucy puts up a shot over Great Falls' Brendan Howard during the third quarter on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
The start couldn’t have been better.
The end?
Not so much.
Flathead scored the game’s first eight points and took a lead into halftime before Great Falls tightened up on defense and pulled away for a 65-47 Class AA boys nonconference basketball win Saturday afternoon.
“Our guys played really hard,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said. “The effort was there just not the execution.”
The Braves (0-2) were outscored 37-16 in the second half but were still within three entering the final quarter. Great Falls poured it on in the final few minutes, though, and routed the Braves 21-6 in the fourth.
The Bison (2-0) played an aggressive man defense in the second half, forcing a handful of turnovers and converting in transition. That sequence would snowball on the hosts as the game slipped away.
“I think you get sped up a little bit and, quite honestly, we just haven’t seen pressure like that yet this year,” Gustafson said. “We’ve got to challenge ourselves in practice like that and we’re capable of doing that.
“It’s a combination of things but all correctable things.”
Great Falls was issued an administrative technical foul after a Bison player dunked in warmups, and Matt Marshall sunk the technical free throw to get Flathead on the board before the clock even ran. The Braves exploded on offense early, getting a quick three from Marshall and three buckets from Kye Auclaire to build a 12-2 lead.
But Bison junior Brendan Howard, an early state player of the year candidate, took over late in the first quarter. Howard scored nine of Great Falls’ 13 first quarter points and finished with 29, three fewer than he scored in the Bison’s Friday night win at Helena Capital.
“Well, we held him under 30,” Gustafson quipped.
“We were going to stick Cade (White) on him, I feel like Cade’s one of our best defenders and will battle anyone,” he continued. “(Howard) likes to set a lot of on-ball (screens) and roll so we were going to stick on him and not help, but he’s just tough, man.
“He’s just a good player. A really good player.”
Howard himself scored as many second half points (16) as the Braves.
Contributing to Flathead’s offensive woes after halftime were its struggles on the glass. The Bison had a bevy of offensive rebounds and, by virtue of having very few empty possessions, kept Flathead from getting out and running on offense.
“First half, really good, and we were really battling for it,” Gustafson said of his team’s effort on the glass.
“Second half, again, another thing that probably hurt us. There were three or four off free throws that we (gave up) and I think that’s a concentration thing on boxing out as well.”
The Braves had high expectations entering the season under a new head coach and, despite their 0-2 start, Gustafson has not lost faith in his team.
“To lose your first two games at home, it’s tough,” Gustafson said. “We have played quality opponents, but I told the guys tonight that my plan hasn’t changed. I still think we’ll be there at the state tournament.
“They’re still positive, they still believe and we’ll get there.”
Marshall led the Braves with 13 points. Kye Auclaire added nine, all in the first half.
Flathead does expect to get a boost when gifted sophomore Tyler Johnson returns to the court in the next week or so. Johnson has not played this season after suffering an ankle injury before the start of the year.
The Braves will play three times next week, beginning Tuesday when they host Polson at 7:30 p.m.
Great Falls 13 15 16 21 — 65
Flathead 18 13 10 6 — 47
GREAT FALLS — Daniel Silverstein 3 5-8 12, Kody Torgerson 2 1-2 6, Riley Watt 0 0-0 0, Brendan Howard 9 10-13 29, Keaton Burcham 1 1-1 3, Kendal Kynett 1 0-0 3, Blake Thelen 0 1-2 1, Kellan Romsa 4 0-0 9, Kyle Winkler 0 0-0 0, Reece Green 1 0-1 2, Keandre Hairston 0 0-0 0. Totals — 21 18-27 65.
FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 5 1-1 13, Cade White 3 0-0 6, Kye Auclaire 4 1-4 9, Bridger Johnson 4 0-0 8, C.J. Dugan 0 0-0 0, Seth Adolph 1 0-0 2, Cooper Barrett 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Potter 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Smith 0 0-0 0, Sam Elliott 1 0-0 3, Micah Bucy 0 3-4 3. Totals — 19 5-9 47.
3-point field goals — Great Falls 5 (Kynett, Silverstein, Torgerson, Romsa, Howard), Flathead 4 (Marshall 2, Barrett, Elliott). Total fouls — Great Falls 13, Flathead 22. Fouled out — Flathead 1 (Bucy). Technical fouls — None. Records — Great Falls (2-0), Flathead (0-2).