Johnson, Meredith help Bravettes upset Sentinel
The Daily Inter Lake
MISSOULA — The Flathead girls dominated play in the third quarter to upset previously-unbeaten Missoula Sentinel 52-46 in a Western AA basketball game on Saturday afternoon.
The win on the final day of the regular season boosts the Bravettes (10-10 overall, 5-7 Western AA) into the fourth seed in the Western conference, where it will host crosstown rival Glacier (7-13, 5-7) for a spot in the Class AA state tournament.
Flathead seniors Tiana Johnson and Kylee Meredith took over in the third quarter against Sentinel, each scoring eight points and burying a pair of 3-pointers, to give the Bravettes a 40-32 lead. The game was tied at half.
Once it had the lead, Flathead closed strong, despite making just one field goal in the fourth quarter. The Bravettes were near perfect at the free-throw line, making 10 of 13 charity shots in the final frame to hold off the Spartans (19-1, 11-1).
“From the first tip, they came out and played hard, but they played smart,” Bravettes coach Tricia Dean said of her team’s performance.
“(Sentinel’s pressure defense) gave us a little bit of problem in the second quarter. We figured it out and were able to break that and get some good looks and knock down some big shots.”
Johnson had a game-high 19 points to lead the Bravettes, who saw all four scorers hit double digits. Kelsey Gillespie had 12 points, Kylee Meredith 11 and Sierra Siblerud 10.
“All of them stepped up and hit some big shots,” Dean said.
Flathead will host Glacier in the last game of a doubleheader at 8 p.m. on Thursday. The Flathead boys will host a playoff game prior to tip of the crosstown clash.
Flathead 15 7 18 12 — 52
Sentinel 14 8 10 14 — 46
FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 3 3-4 11, Sierra Siblerud 3 2-2 10, Kelsey Gillespie 3 4-7 12, Tiana Johnson 8 3-4 19. Totals: 17 12-17 52.
SENTINEL — Emma Blakely 4 2-4 13, Grace Stayner 1 0-0 2, Kylie Frolich 5 3-7 14, Jordyn Schweyen 4 0-0 10, Kaya Dailey 2 0-1 4, Lexi Deden 1 1-3 3. Totals: 17 6-15 46.
3-point goals— Flathead 9 (Johnson 3, Meredith 2, Siblerud 2, Gillespie 2), Sentinel 6 (Blakely 3, Shweyen 2, Frolich). Total fouls—Flathead 16, Sentinel 16. Fouled out—none.
BOYS
Flathead 53,
Missoula Sentinel 47
Flathead beat Missoula Sentinel to close the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
Flathead fell behind big early, but bounced back with a 20-4 run to close the first half, leading Sentinel by six points at the break.
The game remained close through the second half, with the Braves pulling away late at the free-throw line. Flathead was a perfect 10 for 10 from the charity stripe in the game.
“We played tough,” Braves coach Ross Gustafson said.
“It wasn’t our best game. We started a bit slow, but, the mark of a good team is they find a way to win. Our second quarter was really good and down the stretch we made a lot of clutch free throws when the game got close. They found a way to pull it out.”
Flathead is the fourth seed from the West and will host Helena High on at 6 p.m. on Thursday in a playoff game.
Sentinel 20 4 10 13 — 47
Flathead 10 20 10 13 — 53
SENTINEL — Mitch Roberts 3 0-2 6, Danny McKittrick 1 0-0 3, Brayden Danzinger 1 0-0 3, Sam Beighle 6 0-0 14, Elias DeWaters 0 1-2 1, Ethan Jones 3 2-2 8, Will Mytty 3 0-4 6, Griffin Line 3 0-0 6. Totals: 20 3-10 47.
FLATHEAD — Cade White 2 0-0 4, Cooper Barrett 1 0-0 3, Wyatt Potter 2 4-4 9, Bridger Johnson 2 2-2 6, Eric Seaman 4 0-0 9, Tyler Johnson 3 0-0 7, Sam Elliott 5 4-4 15. Totals: 19 10-10 53.
3-point goals—Sentinel 4 (Beighle 2, Danzinger, McKittrick), Flathead 5 (Barrett, Potter, Seaman, T. Johnson, Elliott). Rebounds—Sentinel 29 (Beighle 5), Flathead 27 (Elliott 9). Total fouls—Sentinel 13, Flathead 16. Fouled out—none.