Use 23-5 run in third, fourth quarters

With 4 minutes, 47 seconds left in the third quarter Saturday, one person's voice drowned out the rest in the Flathead High School gym.

It was the Bravettes' girls' basketball coach Kim Elliott, who was calmly coaching up until that point, barking at his girls to simply pick up the intensity.

"Get the ball upcourt!"

"Get your hands up (on defense)!"

Wow did it work.

The Class AA Bravettes responded from a 38-37 deficit at that point with a 17-3 run to take control of Class A Libby and win, 66-55.

The Bravettes continued that run into the fourth quarter and led by 20 points, 61-41, with 4:02 left to play. The Loggers finished the game with a 14-4 run.

Flathead senior guard Meghan O'Connell scored 11 of her 19 points in the last half of the third quarter. She continued it in the beginning of the fourth quarter with four more points. She also finished with four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Senior Kendalyn Habel had 14 points - including eight in the crucial run, six rebounds and five steals in the victory. Senior Meghan O'Connell had 19 points.

"We just picked our game up and played our normal way," Habel said. "We started bringing the ball up quicker. Part of the problem was we were so anxious and we kept passing the ball and turning it over. Then we started penetrating and shooting."

The Bravettes' aggressive style resulted in 18 first-half fouls that kept Libby in the game. The Loggers went 14-for-21 from the free-throw line in the first half and limited their second-quarter turnovers to four.

But the Bravettes ended up garnering 21 steals and forced the Loggers into 34 total turnovers.

"We got tired," Libby coach Jim May said. "They wore us out. They are very athletic and deep. We got real gassed. There's a reason why they are a tough team. You slip or turn the wrong way and they are there to take the ball away."

With the Bravettes not pushing the ball upcourt on offense, Libby was able to get back on defense and sit in a zone.

"The big difference was we were letting them get down into their zone (defense)," Elliott said. "I told them, 'You've got one dribble and then pass the ball up court.' The wings have to be available to get us going because that is what we needed to do to keep out of foul trouble.

"I told the girls that I wanted them coming out of the game with their tanks empty. That's the commitment I needed from the girls.

"This is exactly the kind of game that we needed. We have to have experience with all different types of games in order for us to reach our goals. What they (Libby) did to our two all-state guards was fantastic."

Seven other Bravettes - besides O'Connell and Habel - contributed a lot.

Senior guard Ally Krautbauer had nine points, six rebounds and five steals. Senior guard Ashley Younkin had six points, six steals, four rebounds and two assists. Kali Radel had five points, five rebounds and four steals. Ashley Brown and Shaina Evans each scored four points. Ashlea Vaudt and Kaylyn Heaton combined for five points and six rebounds.

For Libby, all-stater Jackie Mee finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Brittany Martin had 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals.

"I was happy with our effort, but our kids aren't pleased," May said. "This is an experienced team and it was their last chance for the seniors to come to Flathead and win."

The Loggers dropped to 1-3. They host Eureka on Saturday.

Flathead improved to 2-1. It travels to Great Falls High on Thursday.

Libby 11 17 13 14 - 55

Flathead 22 13 20 11 - 66

LIBBY (1-3) - Brooke Hageness 1-3 0-1 2, Sperry Robinson 0-0 -2 1, Holly Cirian 1-4 2-7 4, Korey Kulbeck 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Martin 4-7 8-9 17, Jaime Gilden 0-1 2-2 2, Laice Dedrick 0-4 3-6 3, Nicole Rios 1-4 0-0 2, Jackie Mee 9-14 6-7 24. Totals 16-34 22-34 55.

FLATHEAD (2-1) - Shaina Evans 2-7 0-0 4, Kali Radel 2-7 0-0 5, Kendalyn Habel 7-18 0-0 14, Ally Krautbauer 3-9 3-4 9, Meghan O'Connell 8-10 2-4 19, Ashley Younkin 2-4 2-6 6, Ashley Brown 2-2 0-0 4, Ashlea Vaudt 1-4 1-2 3, Kaylyn Heaton 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-65 8-16 66.

3-point goals - Lib. 1-7 (Martin 1-3), FHS 2-14 (O'Connell 1-3, Habel 1-5). Rebounds - Lib. 33 (Mee 8, Martin 7, Dedrick 6, Hageness 5, team 3, two with 2), FHS 31 (Habel 6, Radel 5, Vaudt 4, O'Connell 4, team 4, three with 2, two with 1). Assists - Lib. 3 (three with 1), FHS 8 (O'Connell 2, Younkin 2, four with 1). Steals - Lib. 8 (Martin 3, Hageness 2, three with 1), FHS 21 (Younkin 6, Habel 5, Radel 4, O'Connell 3, three with 1). Blocks - Lib. 2 (Mee 2), FHS 0. Turnovers - Lib. 34, FHS 22. Total fouls - Lib. 13, FHS 30. Fouled out - none.