Flathead tops Whitefish, twice

Despite being pitted against one another, the Flathead and Whitefish girls basketball teams found a common enemy on Thursday night — free throws.

Neither team had much success from the charity stripe; Flathead made 10 of 27 attempts while Whitefish converted 13 of 31 tries. Yet, somewhat ironically, the free-throw line was where the game was decided.

Flathead was just good enough.

The Bravettes sank seven shots from the foul line and outscored the Bulldogs 11-7 in the overtime period to capture a 41-37 victory, their first of the season, at Flathead High School.

“It’s huge,” Flathead head coach Tricia Dean said. “You need confidence, and you need a win to do that. You just do. I think, for our girls to battle through that, especially when they know they didn’t play their best, I think that will be huge for them and for us moving forward.”

Flathead was fortunate to force an overtime after allowing a 15-0 Whitefish run in the first half and scoring just two points in the second quarter. The same could be said for the Bulldogs, however, as they were held scoreless in the third quarter.

Whitefish carried a 21-11 lead into the locker room at intermission, but struggled to handle the full-court press the Bravettes threw their way in the third quarter.

“That press bothered us a little bit,” Whitefish head coach Ben Johnson said. “It changed the flow of the game.”

Flathead turned its staunch defense into offense, scoring 12 unanswered in the third to take a two-point lead into the fourth.

“We just weren’t in it,” Dean said. “I felt like, after halftime, they responded. They came back and played much harder and chipped away at the deficit.”

Mary Heaton scored 10 of Flathead’s 12 points in the third quarter as part of her game-high, 20-point outburst.

“It almost looked like she just made the decision that she was just going to take over the game,” Dean said. “When she got the ball inside, she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her.”

Whitefish’s Ashton Ramsey knocked down a pair of free throws with seconds left in regulation to force overtime with the game knotted at 30.

“All in all, I’m happy and I’m proud of them,” Johnson said. “They battled for 36 minutes.”

Heaton scored six of Flathead’s 11 in the overtime period.

Whitefish 7 14 0 9 7 — 37

Flathead 9 2 12 7 11 — 41

WHITEFISH: Kit Anderson 6, Claire Carloss 8, Kaiah Moore 5, Ashton Ramsey 5, Annisa Brown 4, Payton Kastella 2, Marlee Bender 7.

FLATHEAD: Emily Lembke 2, Sadie Wilson 2, Maddie Walter 1, Mary Heaton 20, Clara Vandenbosch 8, Taylor Henley 8.

Boys

Flathead 78, Whitefish 55

Ross Gustafson could see it in his players’ eyes during the past few practices of the two-week holiday break. They were ready to play again.

When they finally got the opportunity, the Braves didn’t take long making the most of it.

Flathead poured in bucket after bucket throughout the first quarter and into the second, jumping out to a 35-9 lead on its way to a comfortable victory over Whitefish.

“We were itching to get a game,” Gustafson said. “It had just been quite a long stretch (without a game).

“Going into the game this week, we talked about (how) we wanted to get a fast start. I was really proud of the guys for the way they started.”

After eight consecutive practices without a game over the break, the Braves reeled off one big run after another in the first half of competition — an 8-0 run to start, then 15-0 to pull away and finally a 10-0 stretch to truly take control of the game.

Sam Elliott scored 11 of his 21 points in the first quarter to lead the Braves.

But the real offensive spark actually came on the defensive end of the floor, where Flathead harassed Whitefish and forced a bevy of early turnovers with its trapping halfcourt scheme.

“We wanted to get out and pressure them,” Gustafson said. “We’ve got really nice size on the perimeter. We’re a little bit bigger and stronger than a lot of teams at the guard position, so we want to use that to our advantage.”

Tyler Johnson chipped in nine points in the first quarter and really found his groove in the third, knocking down five 3-pointers in the eight-minute frame.

Whitefish bounced back down the stretch after being punched in the mouth out of the gate.

The Bulldogs were only outscored 49-46 from the second quarter on, but the devastating first quarter gave Flathead ample wiggle room.

“The first quarter, we didn’t box out well in our zone (defense),” Whitefish head coach Sean Duff said, “and it killed us.”

Whitefish 9 14 15 17 — 55

Flathead 29 14 25 10 — 78

WHITEFISH: Alex Keuylian 3, Jack Schwaiger 1, Justin Conklin 6, Brendyn Peacock 3, Mark Anderson 9, Sam Menicke 2, Ryan Kemm 7, Lee Walburn 14, Dillon Botner 10.

FLATHEAD: Stephen Bridges 2, Brett Thompson 2, Eric Seaman 11, Tyler Johnson 30, Sam Elliott 21, Andrew Siderius 1, Anthony Jones 5, Dawson Smith 6.