Braves battle back to beat Bruins, 54-44

Flathead battled back from a slow start to upend Helena Capital 54-44 in a Western AA boys basketball contest on Saturday afternoon at Flathead High School.

Capital held a 14-7 edge after the first period and was on top 23-20 at the half.

Flathead regrouped at intermision and outscored the Bruins 34-21 in the second half to pick up the win.

Tyler Johnson topped Flathead in scoring with 21 points. Sam Elliott and Bridger Johnston were next with 11 apiece.

Bradley Haller was the main offensive threat for Capital with 20 points.

Helena Capital 14 9 9 12 — 44

Flathead 7 13 14 20 — 54

HELENA CAPITAL — Matt McGinley 3-13 0-2 8, Xavier Melize 1-8 1-2 4, Marcus Welnel 1-3 2-2 4, Mark Northey 0-1 1-2 1, Michael Nettleton 0-1 0-0 0, Willie Gross 2-5 0-1 5, Conor McCarvel 1-1 0-0 2, Bradley Haller 9-14 1-3 20. Totals 17-46 5-12 44.

FLATHEAD — Cade White 1-2 0-0 2, Cooper Barrett 0-1 0-0 0, Wyatt Potter 0-4 0-0 0, Bridger Johnson 5-9 1-1 11, Eric Seaman 3-5 1-3 6, Cole Gunderson 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Johnson 9-15 2-3 21, Sam Elliott 5-10 1-1 11, Dawson Smith 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 24-48 5-8 54

3-point goals: Capital 5-14 (McGirley 2-6, Melize 1-3, Gross 1-2, Haller 1-3), Flathead 1-7 (Barrett 0-1, Potter 0-3, Johnson 1-3); Rebounds: Capital 30 (Haller 8), Flathead 28 (Elliott 8); Assists: Capital 11 (McGirley 4), Flathead 13 (Seaman 4); Steals: Capital 4 (Nathey 2), Flathead 10 (Seaman 3); Blocks: Capital 0, Flathead 2 (Elliott 2); Fouls: Capital 13, Flathead 14; Fouled out: None.

Glacier 49, Helena High 26

Glacier doubled the score on Helena High in the opening quarter and rolled from there for an easy Western AA victory at Glacier High School.

The Wolfpack, up 14-7 after eight minutes of action, led 23-11 at the half and 38-19 going into the fourth quarter.

Jaxen Hashley tallied 16 points to pace Glacier, and both teams, in scoring.

Gabe Walsh had eight for Helena High.

Helena High 7 4 8 7 — 26

Glacier 14 9 15 11 — 49

HELENA HIGH — Jacob Howell 0-1 0-0 0, Kendal Johnson 2-4 0-0 4, Caleb Ferguson 0-2 0-0 0, Brian McMahon 0-1 0-0 0, Keair Adgerson 1-9 4-6 7, Dawson Tedesco 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Johnson 1-3 0-0 3, Connor Murgel 0-3 0-0 0, Emmett Buckley 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor England 2-2 0-0 4, Gabe Walsh 3-5 1-1 8. Totals: 9-36 5-7 26.

GLACIER — Pat O’Connell 3-3 1-1 7, Collin Kazmier 0-2 0-0 0, Jaxen Hashley 6-11 4-5 16, Kody Jarvis 0-1 0-0 0, Jeremiah Martin 1-2 0-0 2, Brec Rademacher 2-4 0-0 5, Tadan Gilman 2-9 2-2 7, Torin Bowden 3-4 0-0 8, Caden Harkins 1-4 2-2 4. Totals: 18-40 9-10 49.

3-point goals: Helena 3-17 (Ferguson 0-1, Adgerson 1-4, Tedesco 0-1, Johnson 1-3, Murgel 0-2, Buckley 0-3, Walsh 1-3), Glacier 4-16 (Kamier 0-2, Jarvis 0-1, Martin 0-1, Rademacher 1-3, Gilman 1-5, Bowden 2-2, Harkins 0-2); Rebounds: Helena 16 (England 7), Glacier 22 (Hashley 9); Assists: Helena 5 (Adgerson 3), Glacier 14 (Harkins 4, Gilman 4); Steals: Helena 11 (England 3), Glacier 11 (Rademacher 4); Blocks: Helena 0, Glacier 5 (Hashley 2); Fouls: Helena 10, Glacier 15; Fouled out: None.

Whitefish 70,

Frenchtown 65, OT

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella scored six of his team-high 25 points in overtime as Whitefish pulled out a Northwest A conference win over Frenchtown.

Adam Botkin hit a 3 with five seconds remaining to force the extra session. Botkin led all scorers with 26 points. Austin Means tallied 16.

Whitefish trailed by 11 after the opening quarter and again by 11 in the third quarter.

Sawyer Silliker chipped in 22 for Whitefish.

Whitefish was 27 of 35 from the free-throw line.

Frenchtown 18 9 17 16 5 — 65

Whitefish 7 15 18 20 10 — 70

FRENCHTOWN — Jacob Price 8, Brock Rugg 12, Cade Baker 3, Adam Botkin 26, Austin Means 16.

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 25, Murphy Wick 2, Sawyer Silliker 22, Ryan Kemm 7, Lee Walburn 5, Dillon Botner 9.

Polson 68, Libby 57

POLSON — Libby jumped out to a 15-2 lead before Polson roared back to claim the nonconference victory.

Matthew Rensvold led a balanced Polson attack with 19 points. Jaydon Batista finished with 12, J’Von Johnson had 11 and Tanner Wilson 10.

Ryggs Johnston scored 25 points for Libby. Stephen Williams and Ryan Nagle were next with 11 apiece.

Libby 18 13 12 14 — 57

Polson 16 15 19 18 — 68

LIBBY — Ryggs Johnston 25, Stephen Williams 11, Colin Maloney 4, Ryan Nagle 11, Erik Lauer 6.

POLSON — J’Von Johnson 11, Jaydon Batista 12, Tanner Wilson 10, Jeremiah North Piegan 12, Connor Lanier 4, Matthew Rensvold 19.

Bigfork 69,

Thompson Falls 51

THOMPSON FALLS — Five players scored in double-figures for Bigfork en route to a win over Thompson Falls in the District 7B conference matchup.

Logan Taylor scored 14, Andes Epperly and Logan Gilliard scored 12, and Beau Santistevan and Chase Chappais added 11 and 10.

Danny Hoisington scored a game-high 19 points for Thompson Falls. Nathan Thibeault added 14.

Bigfork 11 20 18 20 — 69

Thompson Falls 10 12 16 13 — 51

Bigfork — Logan Taylor 14, Andes Epperly 12, Logan Gilliard 12, Beau Santistevan 11, Chase Chappais 10, Randy Stultz 6, Clayton Reichenbach 4.

Thompson Falls — Danny Hoisington 19, Nathan Thibeault 14, Payton Frields 8, McKenzie Holt 6, Dylan Beckman 2, AJ Sandoval 2.

Eureka 48, Noxon 37

EUREKA — A season-high 25 points from Brad Stien helped lead Eureka to a nonconference win over Noxon.

Noxon trailed by just six points heading into the fourth, but the Lions broke open an 11-point lead in the final quarter to seal the win.

Jake Cardinale and Jamie Good each added eight points for Eureka. Quincy Grupenhoff led Noxon scorers with nine points.

Noxon 10 8 11 8 — 37

Eureka 12 11 10 15 — 48

NOXON — Logan Wood 5, Ethan Hinrichsen 7, Cody Cable 4, Ryan Weltz 6, Alex Currie 2, Quincy Grupenhoff 9, Aaron Brodnerkle 4.

EUREKA — Jamie Good 8, Brad Stien 25, Matthew Anderson 5, Riley Duram 2, Jake Cardinale 8.

Stillwater Christian 75, Columbia Falls JV 43

Joe Hooker led a balanced Stillwater Christian (17-3) attack with 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a Friday nonconference victory over the Columbia Falls JV.

Isaac Neumann tallied 20 points with Nick Sulzbacher and Austin Brown both netting 12. Neumann also had 11 rebounds.

Stillwater, which closed the game on a 29-5 run, had 12 treys. Neumann had five and Sulzbacher three.

Billy Barrett knocked down 12 points to pace Columbia Falls JV.

Columbia Falls JV 13 17 8 5 — 43

Stillwater Christian 24 22 11 18 — 75

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Jorgen Lindborg 3, Jared Fetveit 2, Nick Sulzbacher 12, Austin Brown 12, Joe Hooker 26, Isaac Neumann 20.

COLUMBIA FALLS JV — Jack Price 1, Parker Giceme 4, LJ Panasuk 7, Quintin Schriver 6, Billy Barrett 12. Totals 15 11-19 43.

Fouls-SCS 19, CF 14. Fouled Out- None. Three points SCS 12 (Austin Brown 2, Isaac Neumann 5, Joe Hooker 1, Jorgen Lindborg 1, Nick Sulzbacher 3), CF 2 (LJ Panasuk 1, Billy Barrett 1).

Girls

Helena High 62, Glacier 56

HELENA — A rough second quarter spelled trouble for Glacier as the Wolfpack came up short against Helena High in a Western AA battle.

Glacier was outscored 21-6 in the second to fall behind 35-22 at intermission.

The Wolfpack had a strong second half, outscoring the Bengals 34-27, but it wasn’t enough to pull it out.

Nikki Krueger had 21 points for Glacier. Ellie Stevens added 10.

Jamie Pickens had a game-high 27 points for Helena. Kamden Hilborn followed with 15.

Glacier 16 6 17 17 —­ 56

Helena High 14 21 15 12­ — 62

GLACIER – Ellie Stevens 5-7 0-0 10, McKenna Hulslander 0-2 0-0 0, Cadie Williams 0-4 0-2 0, Ahna Kreitinger 3-5 1-1 7, Brynn McChesney 0-1 0-0 0, Nikki Krueger 9-15 0-0 21, Anna Schrade 1-9 4-5 6, Courtney Mitchell 2-5 4-4 8, Kali Gulick 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 22-52 9-12 56.

HELENA HIGH – Sam Holman 2-3 0-0 4, Kendra Kloker 2-6 0-0 5, Hailey Crawford 1-3 1-2 4, Kamden Hilborn 6-11 2-6 15, Taelyr Krantz 2-6 2-5 6, Jessica Ellsworth 0-2 1-2 1, Jamie Pickens 9-14 9-11 27. Totals 22-45 15-26 62.

3-point goals – Glacier 3-8 (Kreitinger 0-1, Krueger 3-6, Schrade 0-1), Helena 3-11 (Kloker 1-2, Crawford 1-2, Hilborn 1-2, Krantz 0-3, Ellsworth 0-2). Rebounds – Glacier 26 (Krueger 6), Helena 30 (Krantz 10). Assists – Glacier 10 (Williams 5), Helena 14 (Kloker 4). Total fouls – Glacier 21, Helena 17. Technicals – Glacier coach Bill Sullivan.

Helena Capital 59,

Flathead 58, OT

HELENA — Flathead pushed Helena Capital to overtime after trailing early on, but fell a point short in the Western AA conference thriller.

Tianna Johnson had 27 points for Flathead on 9 of 13 shooting from the field and going 4 for 4 at the charity stripe.

She was 5 of 6 behind the arc. As a team, Flathead was 10 of 18 on 3-point shots. Kylee Meredith had a strong game with 14 points.

Taylor Sullivan netted 15 points for Capital and Megan Lindbo 11.

Flathead 9 14 16 13 6 — 58

Helena Capital 18 13 9 12 7 —­ 59

FLATHEAD – Kylee Meredith 5-10 2-4 14, Mary Heaton 1-3 2-2 4, Sierra Siberud 2-4 0-0 4, Kelsey Gillespie 2-7 0-0 6, Clara Vanderbosch 1-2 0-0 3, Allie Gagnon 0-1 0-2 0, Sara Clarin 0-1 0-0 0, Tianna Johnson 9-13 4-4 27. Totals 20-43 8-12 58.

HELENA CAPITAL – Ayanna Syvrud 0-1 0-1 0, Megan Lindbo 5-7 0-4 11, Katie Culver 3-3 3-4 9, Kacie Gross 4-7 0-0 8, Taylor Sullivan 3-8 9-14 15, Shelby VanHemelryck 3-8 0-0 8, Sydney Sheridan 2-6 4-4 8. Totals 20-40 16-27 59.

3-point goals – Flathead 10-18 (Meredith 2-4, Gillespie 2-5, Vanderbosch 1-1, Gagnon 0-1, Johnson 5-6), Capital 3-12 (Lindbo 1-2, Gross 0-3, VanHemelryck 2-6, Sheridan 0-1). Rebounds – Flathead 26 (Johnson 7), Capital 28 (Sullivan 8). Assists – Flathead 7, Capital 3. Total fouls – Flathead 20, Capital 16. Technicals – None.

Columbia Falls 84,

Corvallis 48

COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls rolled to an easy victory over Corvallis in a Class A nonconference matchup.

Columbia Falls, with 25 and 20 point quarters to open play, led at intermission 45-24.

“I thought early on our defense played very well,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

“Our defense triggered our offense there.”

Columbia Falls had four players in double-figure scoring — Kiara Burlage led with 26, Dani Douglas had 18 and Hannah Gedlaman and Cydney Finberg scored 10 each.

Calla Haldorson had 15 points for Corvallis. Emme Warnken totaled 12.

Corvallis 7 17 14 10 —­ 48

Columbia Falls 25 20 28 9 — 84

CORVALLIS — Calla Haldorson 15, Emme Warnken 12, Corrine Sanderson 8, Lainie Albright 7, Keith 2, Taylor Wright 3.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 18, Hannah Gedlaman 10, Cydney Finberg 10, Tallia Sova 2, Peyton Kehr 9, Kiara Burlage 26, Sydney Hovde 9.

Frenchtown 54,

Whitefish 14

FRENCHTOWN — Frenchtown outscored winless Whitefish 38-8 in the middle two quarters en route to an easy Northwest A victory.

Liv Williams had 10 points for Frenchtown.

Marlee Bender scored five for Whitefish.

Whitefish 2 1 7 4 — 14

Frenchtown 8 18 20 8 — 54

Whitefish (0-16, 0-4) – Hope Brown 4, Libby Nagler 1, Annisa Brown 2, Diana Vasquez 2, Marlee Bender 5.

Frenchtown (14-2, 4-2) – Meg Delaney 6, Liv Williams 10, Jordan Cole 6, Lexi Statelen 3, Calli Bagnell 2, Sydney Channer 5, Shannon Worster 5, Emilie Hinrichs 6, Dana jacobs 2, Alli Hochhalter 2, Carley Thompson 7.

Eureka 63, Noxon 22

EUREKA — A hot-shooting Eureka squad was too much for Noxon in a nonconference contest.

Eurek shot 63 percent from the field in leading 30-14 at the half and 43-21 after three quarters.

Stacy Cooper scored 15 points and Sienna Utter 14 for Eureka. Erynn Their chipped in 12.

Noxon 8 6 7 1 — 22

Eureka 14 16 13 20 — 63

NOXON — Kamber Torti 2, Phalyn Fikas 3, K. Brown 3, Anna Kaiser 6, Cory Brodmerkle 8.

EUREKA — Sienna Utter 14, Sierra Curtiss 2, Liz Pacella 2, Cassie Hammack 4, Maggie Graves 5, Karlee Frost 7, Ashlyn Waldo 2, Stacy Cooper 15, Erynn Their 12.

Bigfork 56,

Thompson Falls 32

THOMPSON FALLS — The Valkeries rolled over Thompson Falls for an easy District 7B conference victory.

Bigfork jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter and led the rest of the way. Shae Anderson had 16 and Reese Nissen had 12 for the Vals.

Lexy VanElswyk led Thompson Falls with 10 points.

Bigfork 19 14 9 14 — 56

Thompson Falls 6 11 5 10 — 32

Bigfork (11-7, 5-3) – Shae Anderson 16, Reese Nissen 12, Abby Lembke 10, Jaime Berg 7, Abby Ellison 6, Ellie Berreth 4, Emilee Park 1.

T. Falls (5-13, 0-8) – Lexy VanElswyk 10, Gillian Nelson 8, Ember Schwindt 4, Haley Morgan 4, Haley Wilson 4, Belle Cooper 2.

Stillwater Christian 46, Flathead Valley 42, OT

Helen Hashley scored four points in overtime to lead Stillwater Christian past Flathead Valley Homeschool in a MCAA Western Division game at West Valley School. The victory gave Stillwater the conference championship.

Hashley finished with 11 points and 13 boards. Lulu Neumann topped Stillwater with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Karissa Williams had 15 points for Flathead Valley.

Stillwater Christian 4 13 9 14 6 — 46

Flathead Valley 7 7 12 14 2 — 42

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Cora Boll 1, Ramey Metzger 5, Adrianna Lambert 5, Dori Smith 7, Helen Hashley 11, Lulu Neumann 13, Selah Neumann 4.

FLATHEAD VALLEY — Victoria Hanson 14, Cody Kenny 2, Heidi Schneller 7, Britney Howery 2, Karissa Williams 15, Jessica Loyda 2.

Friday at Stillwater Christian

Columbia Falls JV 13 14 7 12 — 46

Stillwater Christian 6 8 8 7 — 29

COLUMBIA FALLS JV — NA.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Cora Boll 2, Ramey Metzger 2, Adrianna Lambert 4, Dori Smith 7, Alicia Warricks 2, Helena Hashley 2, Lulu Neumann 2, Selah Neumann 8.