Stifling visiting Helena High with their 2-3 zone, the Flathead Bravettes hung onto fourth place in Western basketball AA with a 49-37 win Friday, their first conference win at home this season.

Helena (3-6 Western AA, 4-12 overall) scored just four field goals in the second and third quarters combined as Flathead (4-5, 9-7) turned a two-point deficit into a five-point advantage and the Bravettes poured in 20 points in the final quarter.

Flathead entered the night 0-3 in conference home games and had lost three of its last four conference games overall.

“It means so much to finally get a solid win when we’re playing as a team,” Flathead senior Emily Russell said. “It’s a great feeling.”

Five-foot-11 center Jenessa Heine powered Flathead’s offense, finishing with a game-high 16 points. Russell scored eight of Flathead’s nine points in the second quarter and finished with 15.

“I was really proud of how we played,” Heine said. “I’m really competitive and I’m just so glad we finally won at home.”

Heine went after Helena leading scorer Regan Fruh early and made the 6-foot-1 center a non-factor after a hot start. Fruh scored six points in the opening four minutes but didn’t see significant action again until the fourth quarter due to foul trouble. She finished with eight points and fouled out with 58.9 seconds left in the game.

“I wanted to foul her out,” Heine said. “Just take it to her.”

The Bravettes trailed 8-5 midway through the first quarter before switching to zone, which flustered Helena the rest of the game. The Bengals shot 32 percent from the field and were 3 of 18 from beyond the three-point arc.

“We were getting beat inside early,” Flathead coach Karly Tait said. “They were lobbing over the top to (Fruh) and we wouldn’t have weakside help, so we went to zone. They hit a couple shots down the stretch. We knew a couple would go in, but we had to stay in the zone and trust that they would miss outside shots and just try to control the inside.”

Helena point guard Callie Kanthack used her speed to navigate Flathead’s zone and scored a team-high 10 points, but the rest of the Bengals struggled from the field.

“We were talking so well in our zone, which we haven’t done consistently in our games,” Russell said. “So to finally play a solid game in zone is really important to our team.”

Flathead made 9 of 10 foul shots in the first half en route to a 19-17 lead at halftime and finished 22 of 33 at the free-throw line (67 percent), well above its season average of 58 percent.

Russell hit a pair of free throws to give Flathead its first lead early in the second quarter and the Bravettes never trailed again, though there were two ties in the third quarter.

A driving layup by Kanthack forced a 21-all tie 1:38 into the third quarter before Flathead went on a 7-0 run that included field goals by Heine, Russell and Jessika Abbrescia.

Helena’s Alex Askin drilled a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter and Kanthack drove for a layup early in the fourth to cut Flathead’s lead to 29-26, but the Bravettes answered with another 7-0 run and point guard Dani Davis scored seven of her eight points in the final 3:21 to give Flathead a comfortable margin of victory.

The Bravettes host No. 2 Helena Capital (8-1, 16-1) today at 2:30 p.m. Capital beat Flathead 45-44 earlier this season in Helena.

“Every game from here on out is a big game,” Tait said. “This was a great win for our girls and for the program in general. It puts us in a position to host a playoff game here, which hasn’t happened in a long time, so I’m really proud of the girls for that. Capital, they’re tough, but we played them pretty tough in Helena, so we’ve got to believe that if we can compete with them then, we can compete with them anytime. We’ll come ready to play.”

Helena 12 5 7 13 — 37

Flathead 10 9 10 20 — 49

HELENA  — Callie Kanthack 5-9 0-0 10, Regan Fruh 2-4 4-4 8, Alex Askin 2-4 2-3 8, Madison Therriault 1-3 0-0 3, Jessica Stockton 0-4 3-6 3, Jenna Starke 1-2 0-0 2, Dani Norling 1-5 0-0 2, Kitana Rocha 0-0 1-2 1, Shanna Floerchinger 0-4 0-0 0, Alicia Norling 0-2 0-0 0.

FLATHEAD — Jenessa Heine 6-12 4-5 16, Emily Russell 5-9 5-6 15, Dani Davis 1-4 5-8 8, Jessika Abbrescia 1-5 4-7 6, Emma Andrews 0-5 3-5 3, Tana Fountain 0-1 1-2 1.

3-point goals - Helena 3-18 (Askin 2, Therriault), Flathead 1-3 (Davis). Rebounds - Helena 26 (Fruh 4, Kanthack 4), Flathead 29 (Abbrescia 7, Heine 5). Assists - Helena 2 (Floerchinger 2), Flathead 9 (Andrews 3, Davis 2, Abbrescia 2). Blocks - Helena 3 (Floerchinger 2, Stockton), Flathead 2 (Russell, Andrews). Steals - Helena 2 (Therriault, Kanthack), Flathead 6 (Davis 3, Russell 2, Andrews). Fouls - Helena 24, Flathead 15. Fouled out - Fruh, Therriault.