Bravettes complete the comeback on senior night
On senior night, Flathead sophomore Grace Gall kept the team afloat with her game-high 24 points until seniors Ava Malmin and Mattie Thompson sealed the win.
After being down by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Bravettes stormed back to shock the Sentinel Spartans 55-50 in Northwest A girls basketball Tuesday night.
Malmin scored eight of her nine points in the fourth quarter and had the game-sealing steal that forced Sentinel to foul with less than 30 seconds remaining, down 51-50.
“My mindset was I haven’t scored all game; it’s Senior Night so I am just going to shoot the ball and it's going to go in, it was just a switch in my brain,” Ava Malmin said.
Malmin hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including one that tied the game at 48 apiece. After stealing the Spartans inbounds pass, she sunk both her free throws to extend the lead to 53-50.
Kaitlyn Hammett’s 3-point attempt hit off the back of the rim and Mattie Thompson secured the board and made both her free throws to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
“It was like a movie script; Ava was not going to be denied in that fourth quarter and Mattie is a great free throw shooter so we would know she would be ice at the line, so I was pretty happy for both of those guys,” Coach Kaylee Fox said.
It was just the third win of the season for the Bravettes (3-15 overall, 2-11 in Northwest A games) and although they were already ruled out from any play-in games, Flathead didn’t let that affect their effort.
They will try to make it two wins in a row for the first time all season in their Thursday finale matchup on the road against Missoula Hellgate.
Sentinel Boys 50, Flathead 38
The Braves came out of the gates hot, taking an early 16-8 lead but fizzled out the rest of the game in the nightcap of the doubleheader.
Spartans’ Lincoln Rogers lit a fire under the team in the second quarter, scoring all 15 of Sentinel’s points and outscoring the Braves team by four to cut the lead in half heading into the break.
The third quarter was the most glaring difference in the game, as the Braves were held to a Lyric Ersland 3-pointer and the Spartans flipped the game to take 36-30 lead.
“They went to a 2-3 zone, and it gave us some trouble with our size,” Coach Dan Trageser said. “We missed some threes, some easy shots at the rim and we didn’t do a good job of playing with that force and pace we had in the first half.”
Flathead was held to 11 points in the second half, with Ersland scoring eight of his team high 18 points. Korbin Eaton added 11 for the Braves but was held scoreless in the second half, while Rogers continued to pour it on, finishing with 32.
The Braves (2-18 overall, 0-14 in Western AA games) will look to get their first league win on their senior night when the season wraps up at home Thursday against Missoula Hellgate at 7 p.m.
Flathead Bravettes 55, Sentinel 50
Sentinel 18 15 9 8 - 50
Flathead 12 10 15 18 - 55
SENTINEL — Kaitlyn Hammett7 0-0 16, Andrin Reimers 2 0-0 4, Nina Sammoury 0 0-0 0, Avery Ogren 3 5-6 12, Callie Crass 2 0-0 4, Kenzie Cline 1 0-0 2, Lucy Pfahler 3 3-4 9, Kaysa Fuller 1 0-0 2, Ryen Hobbs 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 9-12 50.
FLATHEAD — Makenna Aldrich 0 0-0 0, Gracie Mae Kilmer 0 0-0 0, Taylor Greene 1 0-0 2, Caitlin Converse 2 0-0 6, Sami Dalager 2 3-3 7, Ava Malmin 2 3-4 9, Grace Gall 7 6-6 24, Mattie Thompson 2 3-4 7. Totals 16 15-17 55.
3-point field goals — Sentinel 3 (Hammett 2, Ogren) Flathead 9 (Gall 4, Malmin 2, Converse 2) Fouls — Sentinel 18, Flathead 11. Fouled out — Sami Dalager.
Sentinel boys 50, Flathead 38
Sentinel 8 15 13 14 - 50
Flathead 16 11 3 8 - 38
SENTINEL — Jace Koshatka 0 0-0 0, Lincoln Rogers 11 5-5 32, Beau O’Reilly 1 4-4 7, Tyler Stanton 1 0-0 2, Gavin O’Reilly 1 0-1 2, Kade Robinson 1 0-0 2, Carson Towe 2 0-0 5, Brayden Burke 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 9-10 50.
FLATHEAD — Dustyn Franchini-White 0 0-0 0, Cam Wells 0 0-0 0, Lyric Ersland 7 2-3 18, Gabe St. Germain 2 1-2 5, Noah Sonju 0 2-2 2, Brodee Zahn 0 0-0 0, Colin Smith 1 0-2 2, Korbin Eaton 4 0-0 11. Totals 14 5-9 38.
3-point field goals — Sentinel 7 (Rogers 5, B. O’Reilly, Towe) Flathead 5 (Eaton 3, Ersland 2) Fouls — Sentinel 5, Flathead 13.