Flathead falls to Hellgate despite strong start

Missoula Hellgate fought off a scrappy start from Flathead to win 66-45 on the opening day of the Western AA basketball tournament at Flathead High School on Thursday.

Mario Rosemond led the Knights with 17 points and Connor Dick had 11 points and 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.

The Braves took the court as visitors and things were tied through one quarter after junior Noah Cummings nailed a mid-range buzzer beater to make things 14-14.

From there Hellgate outscored Flathead 39-21 across the next two quarters to pull away.

Cummings paced the Braves scorers with 12 points while Brody Thornsberry and Korbin Eaton combined for seven steals on defense.

Hellgate (15-4) moves into the 6:30 p.m. Friday semifinal against Helena Capital (12-7), which held off Butte 58-46 Thursday.

The Braves (1-18) face Butte (9-10) at 12:30 p.m. Friday in a loser out game.

Flathead 14 12 9 10 - 45

Hellgate 14 20 19 13 - 66

FLATHEAD — Noah Cummings 5-14 2-3 12, Josh Eagleton 3-7 0-0 8, Gabe Sims 2-6 3-5 7, Brody Thornsberry 3-4 1-1 7, Korbin Eaton 1-4 0-0 3, Slate Burrington 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 17-47 8-10 45.

HELLGATE — Mario Rosemond 6-9 0-5 17, Donovyn Headswift 7-9 0-1 14, Connor Dick 3-8 5-7 11, Easton Sant 4-9 1-2 9, Chance McNulty 2-6 0-0 5, Asher Topp 1-4 0-0 3, Leo Filardi 1-2 1-2 3, 1-1 0-0 Zane Gillhouse 2, 1-1 0-0 Cuinn Powers 2. Totals 26-49 12-18 66

3-point goals — Flathead 3-14 (Eagleton 2-4, Eaton 1-4), Hellgate 2-12 (Topp 1-4, McNulty 1-3)

Rebounds — Flathead 20 (Sims 7), Hellgate 31 (Dick 10). Fouls — Flathead 16, Hellgate 11. Blocks — Flathead 3 (Ersland, Sims, Thornsberry), Hellgate 0. Steals — Flathead 10 (Thornsberry 4), Hellgate 10 (Headswift 3, Sant 3). Turnovers — Flathead 14, Hellgate 13.

Capital 58, Butte 46

A Nick Michelotti 3-pointer sparked a 9-1 Helena Capital run to close out the second quarter, and the Bruins closed out Buttte with some late free throws.

Michelotti, a 6-foot-5 senior, finished with 15 points while knocking down all five of his free throws. Henry Gross also played a key role for the Bruins by scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

Capital led 39-25 with 3:34 to play in the third quarter but Butte continued to fight and cut the lead to 51-45 with 2:46 left after the Bulldogs' Cameron Gurnsey made a 3-pointer.

Gurnsey was the driving force in the Bulldogs fourth quarter rally by scoring 13 points in the final period.

Butte forced a shotlock violation with the score at 52-46 and 1:34 to playm but Capital’s Hayden Opitz knocked down four free throws in the final minute to seal the deal for the Bruins.

Gurnsey finished with 15 to lead the Bulldogs.

Butte 10 9 11 16 - 46

Capital 11 16 18 13 - 58

BUTTE — Cameron Gurnsey 4-9 6-9 15, Hudson Luedtke 1-7 8-10 10, Casey Merrifield 3-9 0-0 9, Jace Stenson 2-6 4-5 9, Dylan Bache 1-2 0-0 2, Cayde Stajcar 0-1 1-1 1. Totals 11-43 19-25 46.

CAPITAL — Nick Michelotti 4-11 5-5 15, Henry Gross 4-9 3-4 11, Hayden Opitz 2-5 5-9 9, Luke Dowdy 2-2 3-4 7, Hudsen Grovom 2-5 0-0 6, Joey Michelotti 2-10 2-2 6, 2-2 0-1 4 Tyler Kovick. Totals 18-45 18-25 58.

3-point goals — Butte 5-24 (Merrifield 3-9), Capital 4-15 (Grovom 2-4). Rebounds — Butte 24 (Stenson 6), Capital 29 (Gross 8, Opitz 8.) Fouls — Butte 20, Capital 18. Blocks — Butte 0, Hellgate 1 (J. Michelotti). Steals — Butte 5 (Gurnsey 4), Capital 5 (N. Michelotti 2, Opitz 2.) Turnovers — Butte 13, Capital 10.