Basketball: Seasons end on the road for Braves, Bravettes

by The Daily Inter Lake
| March 3, 2015 11:19 PM

HELENA — After hanging step for step with the defending champion Helena Capital Bruins, the Flathead Braves lost their momentum, ultimately falling 63-44 in their Class AA state play-in game on Tuesday night.

In a contest that saw Capital (16-5), the No. 2 seed in the Western division, outrebound the Braves 31-19, Flathead (4-17) trailed by just two points after the opening eight minutes.

The Bruins flexed their muscles in the second quarter, holding the Braves to just seven points to take a 36-22 advantage into halftime.

Behind Keegan Syvrud’s game-high 21 points, Capital cruised the rest of the way to earn their bid to the state tournament on March 12th at the Butte Civic Center.

Casey Ebelt added 11 points for the Bruins. Both Eblet and Syvrud drained three 3-pointers in win.

Flathead’s valiant effort was guided by junior Matt Marshall and senior Alex Croymans. Each netting a team-high nine points, Marshall was 67 percent from the field and Croymans finished with a 4 for 9 effort.

Senior Trae Habel was perfect from the field, converting all three of his field goals for six points.

Sophomore Cooper Barrett and freshman Tyler Johnson poured in five points each.

Micah Bucy, a sophomore, led both teams in rebounds by pulling in a game-high eight boards. He added two points in the season-ending loss.

Flathead 15 7 12 10 — 44

Capital 17 19 16 11 — 63

FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 4-6 0-0 9, Seth Adolph 0-0 0-0 0, Cooper Barrett 2-3 1-1 5, Alex Croymans 4-9 0-0 9, Kye Auclaire 0-0 0-0 0, Bridger Johnson 2-5 0-1 4, Cade White 0-1 0-0 0, CJ Dugan 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Johnson 1-3 2-2 5, Blake Wilson 2-4 0-0 4, Micah Bucy 1-4 0-0 2, Trae Habel 3-3 0-0 6; Totals 19-38 3-4 44.

CAPITAL (16-5) — Danny Burton 0-0 0-0 0, Casey Ebelt 4-7 0-0 11, Keegan Syvrud 6-11 6-7 21, Christian Jacobsen 1-3 1-1 3, Gus Chancy 0-1 0-2 0, Daniel O’Malley 0-4 4-4 4, Will Hunthausen 4-6 1-3 10, Larson 0-0 0-0 0, Haller 0-0 0-0 0, Dowdy 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Bryggman 2-3 0-0 4, Sean Mulcahy 5-13 0-0 10; Totals 22-48 12-17 63.

3-pointers — Flat 3-7, CHS 7-17 (Ebelt 3-4, Syvrud 3-5); Rebounds — Flat 19 (Bucy 8), CHS 31 (Chancy 7, Syvrud 5); Assists — Flat 6 (White 2), CHS 14 (Ebelt 4); Turnovers — Flat 11, CHS 8; Personal fouls — Flat 17, CHS 9; Fouled out — None; Technicals — None.

Girls

Missoula Sentinel 68, Flathead 26

MISSOULA — The Flathead Bravettes couldn’t overcome the hot-shooting Missoula Sentinel Spartans, dropping the Class AA state play-in game 68-26 on Tuesday night.

The second-seeded Spartans (18-3) stormed to a 17-3 advantage in the first quarter and held Flathead to just five more points in the second, closing the period on an 18-0 run to take a commanding 37-8 halftime lead.

Four Spartans reached double figures in scoring. Shannon Worster tallied a team-high 12 points. Haley Rodgers had 11 while Brie Finbraaten and Natalie Hamilton added 10 each.

The Bravettes (2-19) were led by sophomore Tiana Johnson’s game-high 14 points. Johnson nailed two 3-pointers and grabbed six boards.

Sophomore Kelsey Gillespie added eight points for Flathead, shooting 75 percent from the field. Gillespie was a perfect 2 for 2 from behind the arc.

Freshman post Taryn Gutierez was 3 for 4 from the charity stripe for three points in the contest.

Senior Jessica Simmons finished with two points and grabbed six rebounds for Flathead.

Flathead 3 5 13 5 — 26

Sentinel 17 20 14 17 — 68

FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 0-2 0-0 0, Janae Moon 0-3 0-1 0, Tiana Johnson 5-13 2-2 14, Stephanie Wilson 0-4 0-0 0, Kelsey Gillespie 3-4 0-0 8, Jessica Simmons 0-2 1-2 1, Kylee Beccari 0-1 0-0 1, Taryn Gutierez 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 8-31 6-9 26.

SENTINEL — Haley Rodgers 4-6 3-4 11, Kylie Frohlich 3-5 0-0 6, Lexi Steele 0-1 0-0 0, Shannon Worster 5-11 0-0 12, Lauren Bingham 0-0 3-4 3, Jordan Schweyen 3-4 0-0 7, Natalie Hamilton 5-7 0-4 10, Brie Finbraaten 5-6 0-0 10. Totals 28-49 9-17 68.

3-point goals — 4-14 (Moon 0-1, Wilson 0-2, Gillespie 2-2, Johnson 2-7, Simmons 0-1), Sentinel 3-7 (Rogers 0-1, Steele 0-1, Worster 2-4, Schweyen 1-1). Total fouls — Flathead 14, Sentinel 10. Fouled out — none. Rebounds — Flathead 17 (Johnson 6, Simmons 6), Sentinel 25 (Hamilton 6, Schweyen 5).