The Flathead boys basketball team took advantage of its size inside and blew away winless Polson 69-37 in an inter-class game Thursday at Flathead High School.

Flathead 6-foot-3 center Adam Bradley led all scorers with 15 points, 6-foot-8 forward Matt Quist added 10 and the Braves turned the game into a rout early by outscoring Polson 18-7 in the first quarter.

“They had a problem matching up with us,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said.

“We were a little bit bigger and stronger inside and they were playing behind us so we were just going to pound it inside and establish that inside game, and then hopefully begin to play inside-out. I think we did a fairly good job of that. I think we certainly need more work on some things but overall I’m pretty pleased with what they did out there.”

Bradley scored 14 of his points in the first half and did all of his damage in the low post where he backed down Polson’s smaller defenders and displayed a soft touch with his hook shot.

“That’s one of my favorite moves,” Bradley said.

“Our offense was getting open looks. We were running it pretty well in the first half.”

The Braves were determined to have a strong first half after a slow start doomed them five days ago in a loss to Great Falls. Guard Blaine Newman hit a 3-pointer to spark a 10-1 run in the first quarter and Flathead extended its lead to 38-16 at halftime.

“Hopefully we learned a bit of a lesson from last Saturday,” Febach said.

“I think the kids came out, felt confident and they wanted a good, strong start, so that was nice to see. We need to do that every game.”

Quist got going in the second quarter when he knocked down a 15-footer. He put back a Bradley miss before the break and picked up where he left of in the second half by attacking the offensive glass and pouring in second chance points.

Flathead point guard Will Cronk scored 10 points and tallied eight assists, Trae Habel scored 10 points off the bench and guard Chandler Escalante scored 10 points to give the Braves five double-figure scorers.

“That was nice to see,” Febach said.

“We set some game goals for ourselves and we met many of those goals. It’s a game we can build on and get better.”

Cedrick Smith led Polson with 12 points and Zadin Bautista scored seven for the Pirates, who struggled to break down Flathead’s man-to-man defense.

Flathead wasn’t as effective when it switched to a 2-3 zone, but Febach was glad to get a chance to practice the zone before conference play begins.

Flathead (2-2) travels to Class A powerhouse Columbia Falls on Saturday before taking a break for the holidays.

“It’s a great place to go play,” Febach said of Columbia Falls.

“I just love going up there because I know they are big supporters of their team and they’re always good. It’s going to be a good challenge. We need that.”

Polson (0-3) hosts Hamilton on Saturday before breaking for the holidays.

Polson 7 9 14 7 — 37

Flathead 18 20 14 17 — 69

POLSON — Cedrick Smith 4-12 3-4 12, Zadin Bautista 3-5 0-0 7, Andrew Curley 2-6 0-0 4, Payton Lefthand 2-6 0-0 4, Chris McDonald 1-1 0-2 3, Andrew Weltz 1-6 0-0 3, Tanner Wilson 0-5 2-3 2, Joe Gallatin 1-5 0-0 2, Hudson Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 14-48 5-9 37.

FLATHEAD — Adam Bradley 6-10 3-4 15, Matt Quist 4-7 2-2 10, Chandler Escalante 3-8 2-2 10, Trae Habel 4-4 2-4 10, Will Cronk 1-2 7-7 10, Alex Croymans 2-4 0-2 5, Blaine Newman 1-4 2-6 5, Tommie Owens 2-2 0-0 4, Jordan Engel 0-0 0-1 0, Easton Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Blayne Bailey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-43 18-28 69.

3-point goals - Polson 4-17 (McDonald 1-1, C. Smith 1-2, Weltz 1-3, Bautista 1-3), Flathead 5-13 (Escalante 2-7, Cronk 1-1, Croymans 1-2, Newman 1-3). Rebounds - Polson 22 (C. Smith 4, Weltz 4, Bautista 4, Gallatin 2), Flathead 39 (Quist 7, Habel 5, Bradley 4, Croymans 3, Johnson 3, Escalante 3). Assists - Polson 12 (Curley 4, C. Smith 3, McDonald 2), Flathead 21 (Cronk 8, Escalante 5, Newman 3, Johnson 2). Blocks - Polson 0, Flathead 3 (Croymans, Cronk, Quist). Steals - Polson 0, Flathead 6 (Cronk 2, Quist 2). Turnovers - Polson 10, Flathead 9. Fouls - Polson 19, Flathead 13. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - Polson 1.