Bengals shoot, rebound past Flathead

A zone defense and some hot shooting had the Flathead Bravettes feeling pretty good Saturday, as they built leads of 15-7 and 18-12 on the Helena Bengals.

Then the Bengals got hot. Then they cooled off but started grabbing just about every rebound.

By the end Flathead had absorbed a 59-43 Western AA loss that dropped them to 1-6 in league games and 2-9 overall.

Kylie Lantz did the most damage for Helena (5-6, 3-4), canning five 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 17 points.

“I just felt like we were two different teams,” Flathead coach Tricia Dean said. “The first half we were really strong and executed. Second half, rebounding killed us and our execution wasn’t quite there.”

The turning point probably came at 6:02 of the second quarter, when Helena point guard Emily Keller picked up her third foul with Flathead holding a 20-16 lead.

The Bengals inserted freshman Maloree English and she hit an and-one shot in the lane (but missed the free throw), then a 3-pointer, then another three. The latter tied the game at 22 with 2:16 left in the half.

Thirty seconds later Lantz got an open look and buried her second three to give Capital the lead for good, 25-22.

After Akilah Kubi hit a free throw for Flathead English missed, but Caroline Bullock grabbed the offensive reound and found Lantz for another long-range shot just before the half. The Bengals led 28-23.

That’s as close as Flathead came after that. Behind Bullock’s 11 rebounds the Bengals built a 45-26 advantage on the boards.

“Talking defensively in the zone, we’re pretty strong,” Dean said. “But in the second half we did not rebound well out of our zone. They got a ton of offensive rebounds.”

McKenzie Kloker hit two threes on the way to 16 points for Helena.

Jenna Johnson hit three 3-pointers and scored 12 to lead the Bravettes, who also got 10 points from Clare Converse. It was Johnson’s three that put Flathead up 15-7 midway through the first quarter.

Flathead’s next action is Thursday at Missoula Big Sky.

Helena 12 16 19 12 - 59

Flathead 18 5 6 14 - 43

HELENA (5-6, 3-4) – McKayla Kloker 7 0-0 16, Riley Thennis 2 2-2 6, Caroline Bullock 1 1-6 3, Kylie Lantz 6 0-0 17, Emily Feller 3 0-0 6, Rachel Plaster 0 1-2 1, Mariah English 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Heuiser 0 0-0 0, Abby Marcille 0 1-2 1, Alex Bullock 0 1-2 1, Maloree English 3 0-1 8. Totals 22 6-15 59.

FLATHEAD (2-9, 1-6) – Maddy Moy 1 4-7 7, Akilah Kubi 1 2-4 4, Molly Winters 3 0-0 6, Jenna Johnson 4 1-3 12, Clare Converse 4 1-1 10, Kennedy Kanter 1 1-2 3, Myah Attard 0 0-0 0, Rebecca Eacker 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 10-19 43.

3-point goals – Helena 9 (Lantz 5, Kloker 2, Mal. English 2), Flathead 5 (Johnson 3, Converse, Moy). Fouls – Helena 18, Flathead 15. Rebounds – Helena 45 (Bullock 11), Flathead 26 (Winters 7). Steals – Helena 10 (Feller 4), Flathead 7 (Johnson 3). Turnovers – Helena 14, Flathead 13.

Helena Capital 60,

Glacier 39

Paige and Dani Bartsch combined for 29 points inside to help the Capital Bruins stay unbeaten with a win at the Wolf Den.

Aubrie Rademacher’s 10 points led the Wolfpack (4-6, 3-3 in Western AA games), which fell far off the pace in the third quarter.

The long, balanced and deep Bruins improved to 10-0, 6-0 in league.

“They are a tough matchup for us – and a lot of teams,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said. “I guess I’m just disappointed because we didn’t have the same mentality and grit as we did on Friday night.”

Glacier surged back from a six-point deficit in the final minutes to beat Helena High Friday but couldn’t find the same magic 18 hours later.

“It tells me we need to keep working not just on our basketball skills but on our confidence – that we truly are competitors and we have goals we can go to this year,” Cram said. “I give Capital all the credit, but we have to do better and I have to prepare them.”

Kenzie Williams added nine points for Glacier and Kaylee Fritz added eight.

Capital 14 14 15 17 - 60

Glacier 6 11 8 14 - 39

HELENA CAPITAL (11-0, 7-0) – Mashayla O’Malley 1 3-4 5, Mara McGinley 3 1-2 9, Dani Bartsch 5 2-3 12, Jaymee Sheridan 1 1-2 3, Paige Bartsch 5 7-7 17, McKinley Mihelish 1 0-0 2, Sloane Chapman 0 0-0 0, Audrey Hofer 1 0-2 3, Carlie Gross 0 0-0 0, Rachael Stacey 0 2-4 2, Aryana Ridlon 2 3-4 7. Totals 19 19-28 60.

GLACIER (5-6, 4-3) – Kaylee Fritz 3 2-4 8, Kenzie Williams 4 0-0 9, Aubrie Rademacher 3 3-3 10, Ellie Keller 0 4-4 4, E. Anderson 1 1-4 3, Sidney Gulick 0 1-2 1, Aubry Grame 0 1-2 1, Bethany Sorensen 0 2-2 2, Janessa Henson 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 15-25 39.

3-point goals – Capital 3 (McGinley 2, Hofer), Glacier 2 (Williams, Rademacher). Fouls – Capital 21. Glacier 19.

Class A

Columbia Falls 59,

Corvallis 36

COLUMBIA FALLS — Hannah Schweikert’s double-double led the Wildkats to their fifth straight win, beating Corvallis in a nonconference Class A game.

Schweikert scored 22 points for Columbia Falls, including four triples, and grabbed 10 rebounds.

LaKia Hill added 14 for the Wildkats, who are 12-1 overall and 4-1 in Northwest A. Scoring 10 were Maddie Robison and Josie Windauer.

The Wildkats led 30-14 at the half.

Corvallis 8 6 10 12 — 36

Columbia Falls 18 12 17 12 — 59

CORVALLIS — Isabelle Evans 15, Hannah Hutchinson 10, Jenna Jordan 5, Brooke Paul 2, Hannah Martin 2, Ashlyn Nixon 2.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Hannah Schweikert 22, LaKia Hill 14, Maddie Robison 10, Josie Windauer 10, Madysen Hoerner 2, Grace Gedlaman 1.

Browning 52, Libby 24

LIBBY – Browning kept its hold on first place in the Northwestern A with a win on the Loggers’ home court.

No more information was available at press time.

Browning improved to 11-2, 7-0 in league games. Libby fell to 3-10, 1-5.

Class B

Missoula Loyola 48,

Bigfork 35

MISSOULA – Syd Koppang’s 13 points led unebeaten Loyola Sacred Heart to the non-league win over Bigfork.

The District 7-B Vals (8-5 overall) had 12 points from Emma Berreth and 10 from Ansleigh Edgerton. The District 6-B Breakers are 13-0.

Bigfork 8 9 11 7 — 35

Loyola 11 8 12 17 — 48

BIGFORK (8-5) – Emma Berreth 12, Madison Chappius 2, Scout Nadeau 3, Ansleigh Edgerton 10, Ashton McNally 8.

LOYOLA SACRED HEART (13-0) – Sam Clevenger 8, Laney Denning 5, Molly McHugh 1, Lani Walker 7, Syd Koppang 13, Nat Clevenger 8, Kelsey Esh 5, Violet Whitegrass 1.

Late Friday

Class AA

Capital 15 14 13 15 - 57

Flathead 12 6 5 7 - 30

CAPITAL (10-0, 6-0) – M. O’Malley 1 0-0 2, M. Mihelish 2 2-2 6, M. McGinley 3 0-0 7, S. Chapman 1 1-2 4. A. Hofer 0 0-0 0, C. Gross 0 0-0 0, R. Stacey 0 0-0 0, P. Bartsch 2 2-3 8, J. Sheridan 0 1-2 1, A. Ridlon 4 0-0 8, D. Bartsch 9 3-4 21. Totals 23 9-13 57.

FLATHEAD – (2-8, 1-5) – Maddy Moy 3 1-1 8, Akilah Kubi 1 2-6 4, Molly Winters 1 0-0 2, Clare Converse 0 2-4 2, Jenna Johnson 3 2-2 9, Kennedy Kanter 1 0-0 2, Myah Attard 1 1-2 3, Rebecca Eacker 0 0-1 0, Bridget Crowley 0 0-0 0, Emily Lembke 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 7-16 30.

3-point goals – Capital 2 (McGinley, Chapman), Flathead 2 (Moy , Johnson). Fouls – Capital 14, Flathead 13. Fouled out – P. Bartsch.