Capital pulls away from stubborn Braves

For a quarter of their Western AA boys basketball tussle with Helena Capital Saturday, the Flathead Braves switched roles with the powerful Bruins.

Flathead did the wearing out.

The Braves’ switching defenses helped them to a 31-29 halftime lead, before Capital – getting 24 points from Trevor Swanson – hit the gas and took a 76-60 win at the Flathead gym.

“They move the ball so well,” Flathead coach Ross Gustafson said of the Bruins. “Side-to-side, they swing it around and invariably it winds up in Swanson’s or (Brayden) Koch’s hands, and they hit threes. So we tried to go a little 1-3-1 and play the passing lanes a little bit and slow down the ball movement.”

With Hunter Hickey on top of that zone the Braves forced nine second-quarter turnovers. Joston Cripe’s steal led to a Tannen Beyl basket and a 24-21 lead at the 4:55 mark; Beyl had a steal to start a closing 7-0 run that gave the Braves the lead.

The gap grew to 35-29 on a 3-pointer by Cooper Smith, and the Braves still led 39-27 after a driving hoop by post Gabe Adams at 5:00 of the third.

The transition-happy Bruins (14-4, 11-3 in the Western AA) scored 16 of the next 18 points. Seven of those came from Swanson, including a three that put the Bruins ahead 53-41 with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth Flathead (3-15, 2-12) drew to 57-50 on a basket by Cripe but an 8-0 Capital run, including two more baskets by Swanson, made it 67-52 midway through the quarter.

The Bruins hit 10 of 11 shots in the final eight minutes.

“Most of those were layups,” Gustafson noted. “We talked about it before the game: Transition. In the first half we were pretty good – they didn’t get many transition buckets. Then you know, they get a few turnovers and we just struggled getting back and ultimately that’s where they took control.”

Flathead forced 17 turnovers but committed 26. The Braves shot extremely well, 56 percent, but Capital was even better at 58 percent.

Adams scored 16 points to lead Flathead. He also grabbed five boards.

“He had a nice offensive game,” Gustafson said. “He was very decisive and was going to get the ball and get the shot and make his move. When he’s ready and just goes, he’s pretty good.”

Cripe added 13 points and Hickey checked in at 11. Gustafson started all seniors in Flathead’s final regular-season game, and Smith and Max Anderson scored six points each. The Braves’ next action is at the Western AA Divisional at Missoula Sentinel High School. They’ll face top-seeded and unbeaten Hellgate Thursday.

Capital 19 10 26 21 — 76

Flathead 11 20 14 15 — 60

HELENA CAPITAL (14-4, 11-3) — Trevor Swanson 9-13 2-2 24, Brayden Koch 5-9 2-4 14, Shane Haller 8-10 1-1 17, Bridger Grovom 2-6 0-0 5, Parker Johnston 5-12 0-0 10, Kaleb Metzger 0-0 0-0 0, Malachi Syvrud 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Quinn 3-4 0-2 6, Trysten Mooney 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Curry 0-0 0-0 0, Hayden Opitz 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Tenney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-55 5-10 76.

FLATHEAD (3-15, 2-12) — Cooper Smith 2-2 0-0 6, Tannen Beyl 2-5 0-2 4, Max Anderson 3-4 0-4 6, Gatlin Bruner 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Wells 0-1 0-0 0, Gabe Adams 7-9 2-2 16, Hunter Hickey 4-10 2-4 11, Joston Cripe 4-9 4-6 13, Ethan Vandenbosch 2-6 0-0 4, Jessy Reynolds 0-0 0-0 0, Tommy Wells 0-0 0-0 0, Ezra Epperly 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Barrett 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Chouinard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-43 8-15 60.

3-point goals – Capital 7-120 (Swanson 4-8, Koch 2-5, Grovom 1-5, Johnston 0-1, Quinn 0-1), Flathead 4-12 (Smith 1-1, Beyl 1-1, Hickey 1-3, Cripe 1-5). Rebounds – Capital 25 (Johnston 7), Flathead 27 (Adams 5, Vandenbosch 5). Fouls – Capital 17, Flathead 15. Fouled out – Grovom, Adams. Technical foul – Cripe. Steals – Capital 17 (Johnston 4, Grovom 4), Flathead 9 (B. Wells 2, Beyl 2). Turnovers – Capital 17, Flathead 26.