Braves knock off Wildcats

The Flathead boys held off a late rally from Columbia Falls to pull out a 55-45 nonconference basketball victory at home on Saturday night.

The Braves (4-1) played back and forth with Columbia Falls (1-4), extending a narrow lead to double digits in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats cut the lead back to five with less than a minute to play.

Flathead again had to scrap back from a slow start but regained control in the second quarter and didn’t falter down the stretch, sealing the game at the free throw line.

“It was another tough game for us,” Braves coach Ross Gustafson said.

“It’s been the story of our season so far. We were able to gut it out.

“Columbia Falls played pretty well and gave us a real tough test.”

Sam Elliott had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Braves. Cade White also added 12 points and Tyler Johnson had 10 points for Flathead.

Dakota Bridwell led the Wildcats with 11 points and Austin Green had 10 points.

Flathead returns to Class AA play, traveling to Bozeman on Wednesday and Butte on Thursday.

Columbia Falls 9 9 14 13 — 45

Flathead 6 17 11 21 — 55

COLUMBIA FALLS — Austin Green 4 1-2 10, Logan Stephens 4 0-0 9, Quintin Schriver 0-3 0-2 0, Dakota Bridwell 2 7-12 11, Matthew Morrison 3 1-4 7, DJ Schrade 3 0-0 8. Totals: 16 9-20 45.

FLATHEAD — Cade White 6 0-0 12, Cooper Barrett 2 1-2 6, Wyatt Potter 3 0-0 7, Bridger Johnson 3 1--3 7, Eric Seaman 0 1-2 1, Tyler Johnson 2 6-7 10, Sam Elliott 4 4-6 12. Totals: 20 13-20 55.

3-point goals—CF 4-16 (Schrade 2-5, Green 1-2, Stephens 1-7, Schriver 0-1, Bridwell 0-1), Flathead 2-16 (Barrett 1-4, Potter 1-6, Johnson 0-5, Seaman 0-1). Rebounds—CF 34 (Morrison 8), Flathead 25 (Elliott 11). Total Fouls—CF 16, Flathead 16. Fouled out—none.

Hamilton 58, Polson 57

HAMILTON — Hamilton’s Hunter Omlid hit a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to lift the Broncs (4-0) to a Class A nonconference victory over Polson (1-4).

Matthew Rensvold had 15 points and Jeremiah North Piegan had 13 points for the Pirates, who rallied in the second half to nearly claim the victory.

Polson trailed Hamilton 30-19 after two quarters.

Omlid finished with a game-high 23 points, the last three the most important, to keep the Broncs undefeated.

Polson 13 6 23 15 – 57

Hamilton 16 14 15 13 – 58

POLSON – J’von Johnson 8, Jaydon Bautista 8, Tanner Wilson 5, Jeremiah North Piegan 13, Shade Main 8, Matthew Rensvold 15.

HAMILTON – Cam Rothie 4, Ky Burch 8, Ty Chouinard 3, Hunter Omlid 23, Jaylen Taggart 6, Tanner Goligoski 8, Carter Kearns 6.

Bigfork 67, Libby 50

LIBBY — Bigfork locked down Libby in the third quarter to run away with a District 7B conference victory.

Anders Epperly scored 24 points and Logan Gilliard had 14 for the Vikings (2-0 7B, 4-1 overall), who outscored Libby 21-8 in the third quarter to take a 23-point lead into the final quarter.

Erik Lauer led Libby (1-1, 2-3) with 16 points and Ryggs Johnston had 15 points.

Bigfork 22 14 21 10 — 67

Libby 16 10 8 16 — 50

BIGFORK — Anders Epperly 24, Colton Reichenbach 6, Randy Stultz 3, Logan Taylor 10, Chase Chappuis 4, Logan Gilliard 14, Beau Santistevan 6.

LIBBY — Ryggs Johnston 15, Gabe Peck 2, Stephen Williams 6, Colin Maloney 4, Ryan Nagle 7, Erik Lauer 16.

Ronan 54, Eureka 36

RONAN — Anthony Camel scored 17 points to lead Ronan (3-1) past Eureka (1-3) in a nonconference game.

The Chiefs outscored Eureka 31-10 in the second and third quarters to turn the game into a rout.

Brad Stein had eight points to lead the Lions, who saw eight different players score in the game.

Eureka 13 4 6 13 – 36

Ronan 14 17 14 9 – 54

EUREKA – Brad Stein 8, Riley Durham 6, Jake Cardinale 6, Jamie Good 4, Matthew Anderson 4, Moe Henderson 3, Colton Cooper 3, Owen Davis 2.

RONAN – Anthony Camel 17, Zeke Misa 10, Kobe Morigeau 9, Nate Dennis 3, Perry Panzetanga 3, Josh Stewart 3, Kasey Mock 2, Bailey Moss 2, Jordan Skelton 2, Dallas Durheim 2, Anthony Velasco 1.