Bravettes stumble in second half on Senior Night

Missoula Hellgate capitalized on a cold shooting second half by Flathead to spoil Senior Night and pick up a 55-38 Western AA girls basketball victory Thursday.

“We got off to a great start,” said head coach Kaylee Fox. “I thought we were playing really hard, really good defense, just had a really slow third quarter offensively. We could not get the ball in the basket and had a few untimely turnovers.“

The night opened with Flathead honoring their five seniors: Quin Tennison, Harlie Roth, Celie VandenBosch, Chloe Converse, and Kennedy Moore.

“Just to come out hard and play one last time together,” said a tearful Moore after the game. “Thankful to be there, thankful for everybody.”

“They have been really positive seniors for us this season,” Fox said. “We are sad to see them moving on, but happy for them as they move forward in their lives.”

Hellgate (12-6, 10-4 in Western AA games) quickly took a 4-0 lead after two possessions, but the Bravettes' confidence early showed as they scored 12 of the next 14 to take a 12-6 lead.

A Moore 3-pointer midway through the second quarter grew the Flathead (5-13, 2-12) lead out to 23-15. Moore finished the night with a team-high 16 points, 11 coming before the half.

The Knights rallied into the break behind the play of Elly Reed — she finished with 13 points — to cut the deficit to 26-23.

Out of the half Flathead could not buy a basket and Hellgate took advantage. Gianna Passuccio scored six of her game-high 19 in the third as the Knights outscored the Bravettes 16-1 in the quarter to take a 39-27 lead.

In the fourth quarter the Knights kept their foot on the gas as Passuccio knocked down a pair of threes and extended the lead out to 53-36.

Thursday followed a recent trend for the Bravettes jumping out of the gate strong in the first half — even holding Helena Capital scoreless in the first quarter on Feb. 16 — but faltering out of halftime.

“We are trying to mix some things up,” Fox said. “We are trying to figure out what goes wrong in that third quarter. I think confidence, coming out in that second half and just being motivated to win the first four minutes is going to be our focus when we go to divisionals.”

With the regular season wrapped up, the Bravettes head to Western AA Divisional starting Feb. 29 in Butte.

Missoula Hellgate    10    13    16    16    -    55

Flathead    14    12    1    11    -    38

MISSOULA HELLGATE — Ryan Messervy 0 0-0 0, Alix Mund 2 0-0 4, Carmen Anderson 0 0-0 0, Lillie Lambert 1 0-0 2, Paisley Johnson 0 1-2 1, Sophia Miller 0 0-0 0, Elly Reed 6 0-0 13, Shannon Kane 1 0-1 2, Gianna Passuccio 8 1-2 19, Chloe Larsen 7 0-0 14. Total 25 2-5 55.

FLATHEAD — Ava Malmin 0 0-0 0, Quin Tennison 1 0-0 3, Kennedy Moore 6 1-3 16, Harlie Roth 2 2-2 6, Celie VandenBosch 2 4-6 10, Mattie Thompson 0 0-0 0, Chloe Converse 1 0-0 2, Sami Delager 0 1-2 1. Team totals 12 8-13 38.

3-point goals — Missoula Hellgate 3 (Passuccio 2, Reed), Flathead 6 (Moore 3, VandenBosch 2, Tennison). Fouls — Missoula Hellgate 14, Flathead 13. 

    Flathead's Celie Vandenbosch (23) drives to the basket in the first half against Missoula Hellgate at Flathead High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Harlie Roth (21) drives to the basket in the first half against Missoula Hellgate at Flathead High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Chloe Converse (25) drives to the basket in the second half against Missoula Hellgate at Flathead High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Kennedy Moore (14) knocks down a three in the first half against Missoula Hellgate at Flathead High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Flathead's Kennedy Moore (14) works for a shot against Missoula Hellgate's Alix Mund (11) at Flathead High School on Thursday, Feb. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider