Bravettes come up clutch to beat Capital 47-42
The Flathead Bravettes picked up a hard-fought 47-42 win over Helena Capital Friday night in a clash of Western AA foes.
Akilah Kubi finished with 14 to lead the Bravettes and Maddy Moy hit two 3-pointers on her way to 13. Moy who has battled back from a knee injury this year also had a major impact rebounding the ball according to Flathead coach Sam Tudor.
“Maddy Moy rebounding was a big difference maker for us tonight and just kinda finding her feet back on the court again, it’s been good to see her really find herself on the court…I’m really happy for her,” Tudor said.
The score was tied 11-11 through one quarter and early in the second the Bravettes went on a 13-7 run to make things 24-18 with less than three minutes in the half. That is when Capital’s Jada Clarkson scored seven straight unanswered points over the final 2:25 of the second quarter to give Capital a 27-24 halftime lead. Clarkson finished with a game-high 25 points.
Capital led the first 7:30 of the third when Flathead’s Cecilia Vandenbosch found Moy for a 3-pointer to make it 33-33.
Kennedy Moore made a pull-up jumper on the following possession to give the Bravettes a 35-33 lead but Clarkson’s end-of-the-quarter magic continued as she drove to the lane for a layup while getting fouled in the process. She would hit the ensuing free throw to make things 36-35 Capital heading into the fourth.
“Capital’s got some real talent,” Tudor said. “Jada Clarkson is so good and we really wanted to focus on stopping her towards the end of the game. Maddy kinda took that challenge on and that was big for us but you gotta give it to Capital if we play them again I know it will be a good game.”
The fourth quarter was tense for the Bravettes as they trailed 38-37 with 4:51 to play when a key sequence occurred. Flathead deflected a Capital pass in transition to steal the ball and after a Bravettes miss, Tali Miller grabbed the offensive rebound and found Vandenbosch for an open layup to give Flathead the 39-38 lead with 2:49 to play.
Vandenbosch came up clutch again for the Bravettes by snaring an offensive rebound and drawing a shooting foul on the putback attempt. She split the free throws to give the Bravettes a two point lead.
From there Moore put her stamp on the ballgame by drawing a charge, making a shot in the paint and knocking down two free throws with 51.4 to play to make it 44-38 and close things out for the Bravettes. Moore finished with 12 points to round out three scorers in double-digits for Flathead.