Big fourth quarter lifts CMR past Flathead boys
Flathead got big games from Noah Cummings and Lyric Ersland, built a lead and then saw Great Falls CMR rally for a 71-59 boys basketball win Friday on the Braves’ floor.
Cummings scored 28 points, Ersland added 20 and each hit two 3-pointers. Ersland’s two bombs and one from Cummings helped the Braves build a 52-48 lead through three quarters.
The Rustlers, with Tyler Moore scoring nine of his 13 points in the final eight minutes, overtook Flathead from there.
“First off, I was just really proud of how my young group competed,” Flathead coach Dirk Johnsrud said. “They executed well at times, but our lack of experience — we had 20 turnovers — hurt us in our effort to win the game.
“We had about a 2-minute stretch in the fourth quarter where we didn’t execute very well. We had good looks and they just didn’t fall. But overall I was very happy with my kids, how they competed and played.”
Trigg Mapes scored 22 points to lead the Rustlers, with six coming in the fourth quarter. CMR was 19-for-32 on free throws in a game that featured 56 personal fouls.
Flathead plays another home game Saturday at 2 p.m. against Great Falls High.
CMR 16 20 12 23 - 71
Flathead 16 14 22 7 - 59
GREAT FALLS CMR — Trigg Maps 8 6-12 22, Tyler Moore 3 7-10 13, Hunter McMann 3 1-3 8, R. Wasson 3 2-2 8, Gus Nunez 2 0-0 5, L Grosenick 1 0-0 2, Josh Stimac 0 3-4 3, D. Blair 2 0-0 4, Hunter Goad 1 0-1 2, Kael Barnes 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 19-32 71.
FLATHEAD — Noah Cummings 9 8-10 28, Lyric Ersland 6 6-6 20, Gabe Sims 2 1-5 5, Josh Eagleton 0 2-5 2, Stephan Riley 0 0-1 0, SlateBurrington 0 0-0 0, Michael Manning 0 0-0 0, Brody Thornsberry 2 0-0 4, Korbin Eaton 0 0-0 0, Dustyn Franchini-White 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 17-27 59.
3-point goals — CMR 2 (Nunez, McMann), Flathead 4 (Ersland 2, Cummings 2). Fouls — CMR 29, Flathead 27. Fouled out — Barnes, Nunez, Burrington, Thornnsberry, Sims.