Bravettes fade in Missoula

MISSOULA — The Flathead girls hung close with Missoula Hellgate for the better part of their Western AA conference game on Tuesday but faded late falling 49-42.

The Bravettes (2-17 overall, 0-11 Western AA) opened the contest on a 7-0 run and punctuated their strong start when Tiana Johnson nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Flathead a 15-8 lead after eight minutes.

Hellgate (8-10, 3-7) closed the gap in the second quarter, cutting the Flathead lead to one point at halftime. The Knights led by one after the third quarter before pulling away in the final period, making its free throws down the stretch.

Jessica Simmons scored 13 points to lead the Bravettes and Kylee Meredith had 10. Johnson had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds.

Kylie McWilliams led the Knights with a game-high 14 points. Kara Hogan had 11 and Darby Henthorn scored 10.

Flathead will close out the regular season on Friday at crosstown rival Glacier (14-4, 7-3). The Bravettes will be the seventh seed from the Western conference for the state play-ins and will play at the second seed.

Flathead    15    7    10    10    —    42

Hellgate    8    13    12    16    —    49

FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 4 1-2 10, Stephanie Wilson 0 0-1 0, Kelsey Gillespie 1 2-2 5, Tiana Johnson 1 5-8 8, Jessica Simmons 4 3-5 13, Taryn Gutierez 2 2-2 6. Totals 12 13-19 42.

HELLGATE — Darby Henthorn 3 3-4 10, Kaci Paffhausen 1 0-1 2, Kylie McWilliams 4 5-7 14, Sidney Riddle 2 4-6 8, Katie Stahl 2 0-2 4, Kara Hogan 4 3-5 11. Totals 15-25 49.

3-point goals — Flathead 4 (Simmons 2), Hellgate 2 (Henthorn, McWilliams). Rebounds — Flathead 46 (Johnson 7), Hellgate 40 (Henthorn 5). Total fouls — Flathead 20, Hellgate 17. Fouled out — Flathead, Meredith. Hellgate, Hogan.