Bravettes reload after runner-up finish

The Flathead Bravettes have changed coaches and graduated most of their minutes off a team that played in the State AA girls basketball championship last March, but we shouldn’t count them out.

Not with All-State forward Kennedy Moore back and a coaching staff that returns mostly intact — minus Sam Tudor, of course.

“We’ve had a good couple weeks of practice,” said Kaylee Fox, a longtime assistant who took over for Tudor, who stepped down as head coach in the offseason. “They are learning a new system, and we had a scrimmage after five practices. We have some things to improve on but overall, it’s been a pretty good start.”

Moore is a great start, a 6-2 senior who averaged 16.7 points and 8.3 rebounds for last year’s 19-5 team. Beyond that, though, the Bravettes don’t have a lot of experience: the five starters played a majority of minutes in 2022-23 and four of them graduated.

Guard Celie VandenBosch made some starts last season and can enjoy a reunion of sorts. She’s played alongside fellow seniors Quin Tennison, Chloe Converse and Harlie Roth for years.

Fox has VandenBosch and Roth penciled in as starters alongside Moore at the big forward 6-1 senior Sami Dalager in the post. That leaves one starting spot up for grabs.

“We’ll run that guard spot by committee,” Fox said. “We don’t have a lot of experience, and we’ll kind of see who’s ready to step up to the plate and compete at the varsity level.”

A talented freshman class could help — Fox said two ninth-graders will swing between junior varsity and varsity, at least at the beginning — and so will 6-0 junior Maddie Thompson and junior guard Ava Malmin.

Moore has been a focal point of the offense for the last two seasons, both of which ended on Saturday night at state. She’s Flathead’s top returning 3-point shooter as well.

“She’s going to play the four, at least to start, but we’ll see her a little bit more on perimeter,” Fox said. “Obviously she’s a really skilled offensive player. We’ll just try to put her in good spots so she doesn’t have to work too hard to score.”

The Western AA should again be balanced and tough; last season the Bravettes played a ton of close games, and won most of them. They’ll start their season Friday at home against Great Falls High, at 7 p.m. at the Flathead gym.

“Defensively we’re playing pretty good right now. I’m excited to see how we are against another team,” Fox said. As for the league race, she said: “It’s going to be really competitive. It could be anybody’s night. Which makes it fun.”

Flathead Boys

The Braves also have a new coach in Dan Trageser, who takes over for Dirk Johnsrud and inherits a roster that includes junior Lyric Ersland and seniors Gabe Sims and Brody Thornsberry.

The 6-4 Ersland was second on last year’s team in scoring at 7.6 points per game. Sims, who is 6-5, averaged 6.5 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds.

“Brody Thornsberry is a leader for us, and Gabe Sims is a leader for us, and Lyric Ersland has really stepped up into a leadership role this year for us as well,” Trageser said.  “The kids are really learning a new system and we’ve been preaching to them to control what you can control, which for us is attitude and patience and effort, being able to go out and compete.”

Trageser noted Ersland has gotten stronger in the offseason and can play all five spots at either end of the floor.

“He can guard 5s (centers), but has good forward and guard skills,” he said, and also applauded the defensive capabilities of 6-1 senior Stephen Riley.. 

Juniors Korbin Eaton, Brody Zach, Jordan Griffin and Dustyn Franchini-White man the guard spots, with Eaton playing a bit of small forward. Nobody in that group is listed above 6-0.

“We’re a little bit on the small side, I guess, so our ability to push pace and force turnovers is something we’re really focusing on,” Trageser said. “Taking pride in our defensive effort will allow us to be very competitive in the AA this year.”

Tyler Williams and Kaleb Sims played sparingly on the varsity a year ago; Gabe St. German and David Moody fill out the roster.

The season begins with a Friday road game at Great Falls High. Trageser goes in feeling good about his team, but was not ready to settle on a starting five.

“We have an idea,” he said. “We still are working through some pieces and rotations and seeing what works best for us.”

    Flathead's Lyric Ersland (24) pulls up for a shot in the lane in the third quarter against Missoula Sentinel at Flathead High School on Friday, Feb. 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)