BOYS BASKETBALL: Cold-shooting Flathead stopped by Hellgate
For all the signs of progress at Flathead this season, there’s still something missing, and it’s the most important thing of all.
In another tight game with an upper-echelon team, the Braves fell to 0-3 against fellow Class AA schools with a 48-40 loss at home against Missoula Hellgate in a nonconference tilt Saturday afternoon.
“We’ve got to stop just hanging with teams and actually beat them,” Flathead boys basketball coach Ross Gustafson said. “We’ve got to start winning some games and not taking these moral victories.”
Flathead (2-4) has dropped home games this season to Bozeman, Great Falls and Hellgate by an average of 10.7 points, playing right with all three teams. Those three schools went 4-0 against the Braves a season ago, with an average margin of victory more than 33 points.
But the Braves have not gotten over the hump, and they put themselves in a hole early Saturday with a frigid first-half shooting. Flathead went 3 for 19 from the field in the first two quarters and trailed 23-13 at halftime. The hosts shot 27 percent from the field in the game.
“We just flat didn’t make shots,” Gustafson said. “I felt like we were getting good shots.
“You’ve just got to keep pressing on and you’ve got to hope they start falling.”
The Knights (4-1) let Flathead hang around because of their own shooting woes. Hellgate made only 2 of 16 3-point attempts and finished the day at 34 percent overall.
Tyler Johnson tried to single-handedly bring the Braves back in the fourth quarter, knocking down three straight 3-pointers after missing six of his first seven shots, but Hellgate’s Landon Youbles and Connor Schenk combined for 11 fourth-quarter points to keep Flathead at arm’s length.
Both teams returned to the court Saturday for the first time after the nearly two-week holiday break, and the contest opened with an ugly first quarter that ended with the Knights in front 8-5. Hellgate’s lead was 13-10 midway through the second quarter when the visitors found its rhythm, closing the half on a 10-3 run.
“I didn’t feel like it was rust,” Gustafson said. “It was just two pretty sound teams defensively and patient offensively that are going to work for a good shot.”
After the lackluster first half, the Braves played more crisply in the final two quarters and were able to generate good looks inside and out. For the most part, however, the lid remained firmly on the rim.
Tyler Johnson led Flathead with 12 points. Bridger Johnson added six points and seven rebounds. Matt Marshall, the Braves’ leading scorer coming in, finished with four points on one for nine shooting.
Schenk led all players with 15 points. The Knights also got 14 from Youbles and 10 from Derrius Collins.
Both teams are members of the Western AA conference, so the Braves and Knights will play a pair of league games later this year.
Flathead returns to the court Thursday, hosting Missoula Big Sky at 7:15 p.m. in the Braves’ conference opener.
Hellgate 8 15 11 14 — 48
Flathead 5 8 11 16 — 40
HELLGATE — Landon Youbles 5 4-6 14, Derrius Collins 3 2-2 10, Peter Vandam 2 0-0 4, Bob Schenk 0 0-0 0, Connor Schenk 5 5-6 15, Kade Lunday 0 0-0 0, Dylan Botsford 0 0-0 0, Jason Koehn 1 1-2 3, Justin Koehn 1 0-0 2, Collin Reid 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 12-16 48.
FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 1 1-2 4, Cade White 0 0-0 0, Kye AuClaire 3 2-3 8, Bridger Johnson 2 2-4 6, Tyler Johnson 4 1-2 12, Seth Adolph 0 1-2 1, Cooper Barrett 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Potter 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Smith 0 0-0 0, C.J. Dugan 0 0-0 0, Sam Elliott 2 0-0 6, Micah Bucy 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 7-13 40.
3-point field goals — Hellgate 2 (Collins 2), Flathead 7 (T. Johnson 3, Elliott 2, Marshall, Barrett). Rebounds — Hellgate 39 (C. Schenk 9), Flathead 33 (B. Johnson 7). Assists — Hellgate 5 (no leader), Flathead 8 (AuClaire 3). Total fouls — Hellgate 16, Flathead 17. Fouled out — None. Records — Hellgate (4-1), Flathead (2-4).