Bravettes bounce Bison in opener

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead Bravettes built a commanding lead after three quarters, then held on for a 53-40 win over Great Falls High in Class AA girls basketball action on Friday night at Flathead High School.

Jenna Johnson led all scorers with 19, while Taylor Henley added 12 in the Bravettes’ season opener.

“Taylor played really well,” Flathead coach Tricia Dean said.

“In one or two dribbles, she can get by almost anyone.”

Flathead led 37-18 entering the fourth quarter, but the Lady Bison rallied to tighten the score.

“They [Great Falls] shot really well ... on defense we weren’t always where we needed to be,” Dean said.

“But we stepped up and hit some big free throws.”

Overall, Dean was happy with her team’s effort.

“It was a really good start for us ... it was a strong shooting performance from our whole team,” she said.

The Bravettes will look to begin the season with back-to-back victories when they host Great Falls CMR today at 2:30.

Flathead 14 9 14 16 – 53

Great Falls High 6 6 6 22 – 40

FLATHEAD — Emily Lembke 6, Sadie Wilson 2, Maddie Walter 7, Kaysie Malmin 4, Jenna Johnson 19, Kayla Martin 3, Taylor Henley 12.

GREAT FALLS HIGH — Hadlee Bleskin 5, Crisha Polk 2, Gracie Lins 5, Jorgie Hawthorne 14, Morgan Sunchild 3, Ryen Palmer 7, Erin Watt 4.

Glacier 48,

Great Falls CMR 29

Glacier overcame a slow start to win its first game of the season, a AA victory over Great Falls CMR at Glacier High School.

The Wolfpack scored just four points in the first quarter and went into halftime with a 15-13 advantage. But Glacier found its offensive rhythm in the second half, scoring 33 points while pulling away from the Lady Rustlers.

“We were a little jittery at the beginning of the game,” Wolfpack coach Bill Sullivan said, citing his players’ lack of varsity experience.

“But we settled into it in the second half.”

Kali Gulick led the Wolfpack with 11 points, and Aubrie Rademacher and Ellie Keller had 10 points each.

Glacier’s stingy defense gave CMR trouble, as the Lady Rustlers had just 13 points at halftime and 17 after three quarters.

Sullivan said that the Wolfpack “did a great job crashing the boards” and added that Rademacher had some key offensive rebounds.

Glacier hosts Great Falls High today at 2 p.m.

Glacier 4 11 15 18 – 48

Great Falls CMR 5 8 4 12 – 29

GLACIER — Kali Gulick 11, Kaileigh Crawford 2, Kenzie Williams 3, Aubrie Rademacher 10, Abi Manger 2, Ellie Keller 10, Emma Anderson 2, Raley Shirey 8.

CMR — Emily Funseth 9, Allie Olsen 3, Kiely Gunderson 4, Peyton Peterson 2, Marley Calliham 11.

Eureka 55, Conrad 38

EUREKA — Eureka outscored Conrad 32-14 in the second half to cruise to an easy win in its Tipoff Tournament.

Maggie Graves led Eureka offensively with 17 points. Sienna Utter and Karlee Frost were next with 10 each.

Avory Escobar led the Lions in rebounding with eight while Megan Hanson had a strong all-around game with nine points, seven rebounds and a team-high three steals.

Eureka (1-0) plays Choteau at 2:30 p.m. today.

Conrad 8 16 5 9 — 38

Eureka 16 7 15 17 — 55

CONRAD — Caya Dyer 6, Kate Marack 3, Kadie Baney 6, Alison Harris 5, Audrey Taylor 3, Lauren Philipps 15.

EUREKA — Rhianna Hawkins 4, Michael Shea 3, Megan Hanson 9, Avory Escobar 2, Sienna Utter 10, Maggie Graves 17, Karlee Frost 10.

Boys

Great Falls CMR 64,

Glacier 48

GREAT FALLS — Great Falls C.M. Russell knocked down 22 points in the second quarter to take a 36-24 halftime lead en route to a Class AA nonconference victory over Glacier.

Bryce Depping led CMR, and all scorers, with 17 points. Keegan Barnes was next with 16.

Bret Michaels had 10 to pace Glacier in its season opener.

“It was a learning experience for us,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“We don’t have a lot of varsity experience and we played a good varsity team. We grew up a little bit tonight.”

Glacier plays at Great Falls High today at 2:30 p.m.

Glacier 15 9 13 11 — 48

Great Falls CMR 14 22 20 8 — 64

GLACIER — Ethan Bains 4, KJ Johnson 9, Christian Hensley 3, Drew Engellant 6, Kyle Buckingham 2, Michael Schwarz 9, Bret Michaels 10, Drew Deck 5.

GREAT FALLS CMR — Caleb Currington 7, Bryce Nelson 2, Brenden Lindseth 10, Cason Taylor 5, Keegan Barnes 16, Kaden Gardner 4, Bryce Depping 17, Russell Gagne 3.

Great Falls High 79,

Flathead 45

GREAT FALLS — Great Falls High rattled off 36 points in the second quarter to blow by Flathead in a Class AA nonconference contest.

It was the season opener for Flathead.

Kyle Torgerson, who led all scorers with 21 points, tallied 17 in the second quarter for the Bison.

Great Falls led 56-23 at the half.

Anthony Jones was Flathead’s leading scorer with nine points.

Flathead plays at Great Falls C.M. Russell today at 2:30 p.m.

Flathead 11 12 11 11 — 45

Great Falls High 20 36 17 6 — 79

FLATHEAD — Tannen Beyl 7, Stephen Hickey 6, Seth Moon 5, Brian Wells 2, Brett Thompson 6, Gabe Adams 6, Anthony Jones 9, Andrew Siderius 3.

GREAT FALLS HIGH — Levi Torgerson 9, K. Bistodeau 10, R. Callory 15, R. Tlelen 7, Kyle Torgerson 21, L. Abbott 4, Luke Layman 2, Dan Wyman 4, T. Fought 2, D. Jenkins 2.

Stillwater Christian 57,

Troy 55

Elijah Chuang hit the game-winner with three seconds left as Stillwater Christian edged Troy in a nonconference test at Stillwater Christian School.

Chuang finished with four points.

Nick Sulzbacher led Stillwater in scoring with 18 points.

Colton Johnson had a team-high 15 rebounds to go with nine points for the victors.

Trevor Hogland topped Troy offensively with 13 points.

Troy 10 17 23 5 — 55

Stillwater Christian 18 11 12 16 — 57

TROY — Cy Winslow 2, Trevor Hogland 13, Jaymin Steven 11, Dylan Cummings 7, Hunter Leighty 10, Tyler Gromly 2, Moxley RD 3, Alex Freund 7.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Josh Venman 5, Blake Prewitt 4, Nick Sulzbacher 18, Elijah Chuang 4, Jeremiah Hooker 6, Colton Johnson 9, Caleb Cole-Tinkham 4, Stephan Thompson 2, Eric Anderson 5.

Western A Tipoff Tournament

At University of Montana

Girls

Whitefish 34, Hamilton 31

MISSOULA — Gracie Smyley came off the bench to score a game-high 14 points and Kit Anderson drilled two big free throws down the stretch as Whitefish held on for a victory over Hamilton.

Smyley, a sophomore wing, was 4 of 4 shooting from two-point range and 2 of 3 on threes.

“She kept us in it early,” Whitefish coach Bob Bolam said of Symley.

Whitefish trailed 20-16 at the half.

Anderson’s two free throws came with less than a minute to play, pushing Whitefish in front by three.

Those were also the final points scored in the game.

Whitefish outscored Hamilton 12-2 in the third quarter to take a 28-22 lead.

“We played a tough game,” Bolam said.

“Even though we haven’t had a lot of success lately, we were able to handle it down the stretch.”

Mariola Tesoro led Hamilton in scoring with 11.

Whitefish (2-0) plays Stevensville today at 6:45 p.m.

Hamilton 9 11 2 9 — 31

Whitefish 5 11 12 6 — 34

HAMILTON — Sophia Doyle 2, Abby Johnson 3, Mariola Tesoro 11, Jorden Taggert 4, Madi Drake 2, Katelyn Dickmore 9.

WHITEFISH — Kit Anderson 9, Kaiah Moore 2, Claire Carloss 3, Gracie Smyley 14, Jadi Walburn 2, Marlee Bender 4.

Columbia Falls 64,

Butte Central 17

MISSOULA — Josie Windauer dropped in a game-high 18 points and Trista Cowlan netted 15 and Ryley Kehr 11 as Columbia Falls crushed Butte Central.

Columbia Falls jumped out to a 23-4 advantage after the opening quarter and was never challenged.

The Wildkats held Butte Central to single digit scoring in each of the four quarters.

Columbia Falls (2-0)was 15 of 22 at the free throw line.

Columbia Falls plays Frenchtown today at 10 a.m.

Butte Central 4 2 5 6 — 17

Columbia Falls 23 17 21 3 — 64

BUTTE CENTRAL — Avery Kelly 2, Delaney Hasquet 2, Bella Sorini 2, Shea Davis 2, Emma Keeley 7, Madison Kump 2.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Savvy Ellis 2, Lakia Hill 4, Josie Windauer 18, Ryley Kehr 11, Paige Burger 3, Madysen Hoerner 5, Trista Cowan 15, Anna Swaggart 7. ?

Stevensville 56, Polson 36

MISSOULA — Stevensville used a big second quarter to pull away from Polson for the 20-point victory.

Stevensville outscored Polson 24-4 in the second quarter for a 39-14 halftime lead.

Polson had a strong finish with 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Alex Pierre led Polson in scoring with 10 points.

Polson (0-2) plays Hamilton today at 5:30 p.m.

Stevensville 15 24 10 7 — 56

Polson 10 4 1 21 — 36

STEVENSVILLE — M. Weber 4, M. Sims 2, K. Praast 15, S. Paul 2, M. LeCoure 6, A. Richards 12, E. Alexander 14.

POLSON — Lisa Costilla 2, Megan Rost 2, Misty Tenas 6, Alex Pierre 10, Karly Lawson 7, Sharmaine Zempel 1, Olivia Perez 8.

Boys

Whitefish 71, Hamilton 65, OT

MISSOULA — Lee Walburn hit a 3 from the bottom left corner with less than 10 seconds to play to force overtime and Whitefish cashed in after that at the free throw line to pull out the win over Hamilton.

Whitefish was 12 of 14 at the charity stripe in the extra session. For the game, the Bulldogs were 25 of 30.

Hamilton had the final shot in regulation, but missed.

Whitefish never trailed in overtime.

“We played hard, we made a few mistakes during the game that cost us at times,” Whitefish coach Scott Smith said.

“But overall, the kids played well. They did what was needed to get it done.”

Walburn led Whitefish in scoring with 24 points. Also reaching double figures were Justin Conklin with 13 and Dillon Botner added 12.

Tanner Goligoski led Hamilton, and all scorers, with 35 points.

Whitefish (2-0) plays Stevensville today at 5 p.m.

Hamilton 13 6 18 19 9 — 65

Whitefish 13 13 12 18 15 — 71

HAMILTON — Cam Rothie 9, Carson Rostad 6, Tyler Bainer 5, Tanner Goligoski 35, Trey Searle 6, Tyler Burrows 2.

WHITEFISH — Bodie Smith 5, Justin Conklin 13, Mark Anderson 6, Sam Menicke 2, Ryan Kemm 9, Lee Walburn 24, Dillon Botner 12.

Butte Central 60,

Columbia Falls 35

MISSOULA — Butte Central used a strong start to throttle Columbia Falls.

Butte Central doubled the scored on the Wildcats in the opening quarter, 16-8, and led at the half 36-17.

Dylan Sestrich led Butte, and all scorers, with 15 points.

Drew Morgan topped Columbia Falls with 10 points.

Columbia Falls (1-1) plays Frenchtown today at 11:45 a.m.

Butte Central 16 20 10 14 — 60

Columbia Falls 8 9 14 4 — 35

BUTTE CENTRAL — Luke Heaphy 5, Cade Holter 8, Dylan Sestrich 15, Braden Harrington 14, Gator Yelenich 11, Trevor Neumann 7.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dillon Wanner 5, Drew Morgan 10, Dillon Shipp 2, Logan Betchel 3, Sam Hovde 3, Jack Price 2, Danny Henjum 7, William Dyon 3.

Polson 67, Stevensville 56

MISSOULA — A strong defensive effort by Polson in the second half carried the Pirates past Stevensville.

Polson outscored Stevensville 31-12 after intermission and held the Yellowjackets scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Stevensville led 44-36 at halftime.

Colton Graham led Polson in scoring with 17 points.

Cordell Walker and Trevor Schultz were next with 12 each.

Polson (1-1) plays Hamilton today at 6:30 p.m.

Stevensville 20 24 12 0 — 56

Polson 16 20 12 19 — 67

STEVENSVILLE — Meeds 21, Roth 18, Sherman 6, Yakavk 2, Pendergrest 6, Beeten 3.

POLSON — Keyan Dalby 2, Ryker Wenderoth 3, Robin Erickson 2, Trevor Schultz 12, Bo Kelley 6, Connor Lanier 2, Colton Graham 17, Trevor Lake 4, Cordell Walker 12, Micah Askan 8.