Braves’ rally falls short in Butte

BUTTE — Jace Stenson hit five 3-pointers and scored 31 points, and Butte withstood a Flathead fourth-quarter rally to claim a 61-55 Western AA boys basketball win Friday.

Kooper Klobucar added 12 points for the Bulldogs (3-9 overall, 3-5 in league), who led 32-21 at half before the Braves (1-11, 1-7 in league) rallied.

Joston Cripe scored 23 points for Flathead and Gavin Chouinard had 14 for the Braves, who trailed 32-21 at half and nearly pulled off a comeback to match Butte’s when the Bulldogs won at Flathead 63-57 a month ago.

Chouinard hit two fourth-quarter threes and Luca Zoeller had three buckets in the same period as the Braves fought back. Cripe had 12 points in the third quarter to get the rally started.

Zoeller finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and five assists for Flathead, which plays at Missoula Sentinel today.

Flathead 5 16 16 18 - 55

Butte 16 16 9 20 - 61

FLATHEAD — Drew Lowry 0-6 0-1 0, Gavin Chouinard 6-12 0-0 14, Luca Zoeller 4-6 0-1 8, Joseph Hansen 3-5 0-2 6, Joston Cripe 7-15 7-8 23, Noah Cummings 2-4 0-1 4, Brody Thronesberry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 7-13 55.

BUTTE — Jace Stenson 9-15 8-8 31, Cameron Gurnsey 1-8 2-4 4, Kenley Leary 0-5 0-0 0, Bo Demarais 0-4 1-2 1, Kooper Klobucar 4-9 3-4 12, Jonas Sherman 205 0-0 4, Tocher Lee 3-8 0-0 9. Totals 19-54 14-18 61.

3-point goals – Flathead 4-16 (Lowry 0-3, Chouinard 2-5, Cripe 2-6, Cummings 0-2), Butte 9-23 (Stenson 5-9, Gurnsey 0-3, Learey 0-3, Klobucar 1-2, Lee 3-6). Fouled out – Cripe, Cummings, Leary. Total fouls – Flathead 16, Butte 14. Technical – Leary. Rebounds – Flathead 29 (Zoeller 10, Hansen 7), Butte 38 (Stenson 5, Klobucar 5, Sherman 5). Blocks – Flathead 6 (Zoeller 3), Butte 0. Assists – Flathead 14 (Zoeller 5), Butte 18 (Leary 8, Stenson 4). Steals – Flathead 7 (Cripe 3), Butte 7 (Klobucar 4). Turnovers – Flathead 12, Butte 12.