The Flathead girls couldn’t buy a basket for the first three quarters, but mounted a late comeback before falling short against visiting Missoula Big Sky 37-35 in a Western AA conference basketball game on Thursday night.

The Bravettes (2-4 overall, 0-1 Western AA), shot just 15 percent in the first half, scoring one basket, a deep 3-pointer from freshman guard Kelsey Noland-Gillespie, in the final 10 minutes before halftime. The lull, which saw Flathead settling for outside shots against the Big Sky zone, helped the Eagles (2-4, 1-1) turn a 8-3 first-quarter deficit to a 19-11 halftime lead.

Flathead shot just 4 for 26 in the first half and was 2 for 14 from 3-point range.

“There was definitely a lid on the basket, which is really frustrating,” Flathead coach Lisa Hendrickson said. “It’s frustrating to watch, but you also feel bad for them. It’s their own gym, we shoot a ton of shots here. For there to be a lid on the basket, it’s just hard.”

Flathead gave up the first six points of the third quarter, to fall behind 25-11, before finally finding a groove. The Bravettes picked up their pressure in the halfcourt, frustrating Big Sky into bad shots and turnovers.

During that stretch, Flathead was able to find its way through the Big Sky zone, working the ball into the post and making its way to the free-throw line. Unfortunately, for the Bravettes, their shooting struggles continued there, where they were just 7 for 18 for 39 percent.

The score started to turn Flathead’s way in the fourth quarter, when shots began falling. Bravettes senior Jenessa Heine scored the first six points of the quarter for Flathead, which keyed a 12-3 run that cut the Big Sky lead to 33-31 with 1:21 to play.

That was as close as the Bravettes would get. Big Sky stretched the lead to four points twice in the closing seconds, with Flathead answering each time. The final shot came from Heine with six seconds remaining, but the clock ran out after the Big Sky inbound.

“I was proud of them for not giving up, even though we were obviously shooting the ball extremely poorly,” Hendrickson said. “It’s hard when you’re not able to make a basket to stay in it. I was proud of their defensive effort to get back into the game.

“They didn’t give up and they gutted it out. Hopefully we learn from it. We’ve got another game on Saturday. We don’t have to live with it for very long.”

Heine scored a game-high 16 points and had four steals to lead the Bravettes. Noland-Gillespie had eight points and senior guard Emma Andrews had seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Maddy Shaide scored 14 points and Dani Baker had 11 to lead Big Sky.

Flathead returns to the court for a game at Missoula Sentinel (6-0, 1-0) on Saturday.

Big Sky 8 11 11 7 — 37

Flathead 8 3 8 14 — 35

BIG SKY — Dani Baker 3-8 4-6 11, Kendra Joyce 1-4 4-6 6, Maddy Shaide 5-11 2-2 14, Kenzie Hanson 0-1 3-4 3, Anna Gragg 1-3 1-2 3. Totals: 10-30 14-20 37.

FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 3-15 0-4 7, Lizzie Sherwood 2-4 0-2 4, Jenessa Heine 6-14 4-8 16, Kelsey Noland-Gillespie 2-6 3-4 8. Totals: 13-52 7-18 35.

3-pointers — Big Sky 3-9 (Shaide 2, Baker), Flathead 2-19 (Andrews, Noland-Gillespie). Rebounds — Big Sky 33 (Joyce 7), Flathead 28 (Andrews 9). Assists — Big Sky 5 (Baker, Sidney Davis, Shaide, Hanson, Gragg), Flathead 4 (Andrews 2, Tana Fountain 2). Blocks — Big Sky 1 (Gragg), Flathead 1 (Fountain). Steals — Big Sky 3 (Davis, Shaide, McKenna Arledge), Flathead 10 (Andrews 4, Heine 4). Fouls — Big Sky 12, Flathead 15. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none.