MCAA tourney: Flathead Valley ends Foothills’ reign

Bad things came in threes for the Foothills Falcons.

A deep three sent the game into triple-overtime and the Falcons fell in their third meeting with a Flathead Valley Home School team that they had defeated twice earlier in the season.

But this meeting was the one that counted as the Crusaders knocked off the Falcons 51-50 for the Montana Christian Athletic Association girls’ state championship at Paris Gibson Education Center on Saturday.

Flathead Valley Home School sophomore Karissa Williams’ fifth trey of the game came as she circled the perimeter to her left and came off a high screen to drain one from NBA range to force the third overtime.

“What do you do when girl just loves to pop 3s like that?” asked Foothills coach Sydnie Fulbright.

“Being state champs just feels so good,” Williams said. “So good.”

Williams finished with a game-high 24 points to pace the Crusaders.

Freshman teammate Heidi Schneller hit a pair of free throws with 23.2 ticks left on the clock to put Flathead up 51-48 to put a little more pressure on the defending champion Falcons (22-2).

“I just trusted that God would help me put those in, and He was there for me – like always,” said Schneller.

The Falcons went to 6-foot-2 junior post Adair Henning for one of the rare good looks she had all night, and she put in a bunny to make it 51-50 with 13 seconds on the clock. But Foothills couldn’t force the turnover despite the hometown advantage, and the Crusaders ran out the clock for the title.

“They are pretty upset,” Fulbright said. “It’s hard to lose, whether it’s by 20 or 1.”

The team stayed in the locker room for a long time after the game.

“I asked them to be futuristic,” Fulbright said. “To work hard and come back stronger next year.”

The future certainly is bright as Foothills will bring back everybody as the team is made up of freshmen and juniors, with a couple of eighth-graders making an impact.

Foothills freshman Kenzie Huston led the way for the Falcons with 19 points as the Crusaders’ zone did its best to make life miserable for Henning in the low post.

It was Huston who scored nine of Foothills’ first-quarter points as the Falcons raced out to a 13-4 lead after the first break thanks to a defensive stand that stretched to 8:22 seconds between made field goals for Flathead.

Huston also keyed the Falcons’ zone up on the top.

“She’s a workhorse for us on both ends,” Fulbright said. “We are young but experienced.”

Last year, the current crop of freshmen played key roles in the state-title run.

Huston also came through late on this day, hitting buckets to end the third stanza (a beautiful spinning step-through) and start the fourth to put Foothills up 30-25.

Flathead battled back, and it was Williams who nailed another trey for the Crusaders to put Flathead up 35-33, but Henning again shook loose of the suffocating defense to put the game into the first OT.

“We were really working to keep the ball away from (Henning),” Williams said.

Henning didn’t score in the first half, but kept chipping away to score 15 in the game.

“(Packing it in down low is) what everybody does against us,” Fulbright said. “That’s what I would do.”

Flathead senior Priscilla Rajkowski scored one of the few buckets down low for the Crusaders and then hit the ensuing free throw to give Flathead a 42-40 lead with 50.7 seconds remaining in the first overtime, but Josey Lindseth’s high floater off a nifty wraparound pass from Huston knotted the game at 42-42 to force the second overtime.

Henning scored both buckets for Foothills in that stanza as the Falcons forged a 46-43 lead that Williams’ huge trey erased.

Henning’s late field goal to bring the Falcons to within one was the only field goal made in the final four minutes.

Ever been part of something like that?

“Triple-overtime with the stakes this high?” Fulbright asked. “No. Never.”

Expect to see the young Falcons back in contention for another run at a title year from now.

Perhaps their third-straight title game?

Now, that wouldn’t be so bad.

Stillwater Christian 82, Gallatin Valley 57

The Stillwater Christian Cougars turned a halftime deficit into a rout Saturday to win back-to-back boys’ titles.

“It’s pretty emotional,” said senior BJ Bach, who paced the Cougars (21-2) with 29 points in the title game.

Bach and the other seven seniors have been playing together since fifth grade, and the team came together in halftime not to let the pressure get to them.

“We regrouped and just played defense,” Bach said, explaining the second-half explosion. “That’s what we’ve been (concentrating on) all season.”

It was a pair of juniors – Isaac Neumann (20 points) and Joe Hooker (16) – who joined Bach in double-figure scoring for the Cougars.

Senior Michael Hoover had 24 points and sophomore Dakota Perry had 11 for Gallatin Valley (13-3).

BOYS

Flathead Valley Homeschool 63, Foothills Christian 53 (lo)

Foothills…19 10 10 14 - 53

Flathead…7 15 18 23 - 63

Foothills: Ben Fried 9, Luke Willekes 16, Caleb Orso 8, Carson Lindseth 12, Shane Wood 8. Totals: 19 11-21.

Flathead: Dylan Kasberg 6, Caleb Gwynn 21, Spencer Burden 7, Jay Baker 4, Taylor Titchebourne 15, Paul Artyomenko 7, Logan Buckner 3. Totals: 23 11-22.

3-pointers: Fried, Lindseth, Wood 2, Kasberg 2, Gwynn 3, Burden.