Four Flathead players combined for 72 points and the Braves snapped a two-game skid with a 75-60 Western AA win over Missoula Big Sky in boys basketball on Saturday afternoon.

Ian Gillespie scored a game-high 23 points, George Sherwood had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Mike VanArendonk added 16 points and Joe Pistorese had 15 for Flathead (3-4 overall, 1-1 in conference).

"All of our offense came from our defense. We worked all week in practice on our defense and it really paid off tonight," said Gillespie, who sank three 3-pointers and was five points away from tying a career-high.

With seven points in the third quarter, Gillespie helped the Braves open up the lead with a 16-8 run that put Flathead at 47-31. The closest the Eagles (1-5, 0-2) got from there on out was 10 points.

The victory was Flathead's first since defeating two-time defending champ C.M. Russell on Jan. 7 at home.

"It was night and day compared to how we've played the last couple games in regards to starting out hard and starting out strong," Flathead coach Fred Febach said. "We had three solid days of practice coming in so the kids came ready to play today and I'm very pleased."

Defensively the Braves kept the Eagles off balance throughout and Flathead kept their foot on the gas pedal until the final minute.

"Once we got the tempo on our side I felt like we were able to get a lot of fast-break lay-ups," Gillespie said. "And once we started to rebound better we knocked down some outside shots, too."

"Credit to Flathead more than anything else, I thought they stepped up and took advantage of what they needed to take advantage of," Big Sky coach Josh Laslovich said. "That's the difference in the basketball game."

Before entering the heart of conference play, Flathead has two more nonconference matchups on the schedule - at Polson on Tuesday and hosting Whitefish on Friday.

"We understand with the way things are beginning to shape up conference-wise it's kind of open," Febach said.

Big Sky 9 14 18 19 - 60

Flathead 12 19 20 24 - 75

BIG SKY - RJ LaValley 1 0-0 3, Cole Baker 2 1-2 5, Jason Neibergs 3 0-0 7, Jay Owens 6 1-4 14, Tyler Thornock 2 1-4 5, Aaron Koster 7 5-6 19, Dan Miller 0 1-2 1, Matt Ethridge 1 0-0 2, Ryan Stemple 2 0-0 4. Totals 24 9-18 60.

FLATHEAD - Mike VanArendonk 5 6-8 16, Matt McLean 0 0-2 0, Ian Gillespie 10 0-0 23, Joe Pistorese 6 3-4 15, George Sherwood 7 4-8 18, Shea Schroeder 0 1-4 1, Garth West 1 0-1 2. Totals 29 14-27 75.

3-pointers - Big Sky 3 (Neibergs, Owens, LaValley), Flathead 3 (Gillespie 3); Rebounds - Big Sky 49 (Koster 8, Miller 7, Thornock 6, Owens 6), Flathead 38 (Sherwood 12, Schroeder 5); Turnovers - Big Sky 19, Flathead 14; Steals - Big Sky 6 (Baker 3), Flathead 8 (Schroeder 2, Sherwood 2, Pistorese 2); Fouls - Big Sky 22, Flathead 17; Fouled out - None.