Chiefs come back

RONAN — Kobe and LeBron met on Sunday for a rivalry game. Hyped for weeks, the meeting had all the things you want in a rivalry matchup – the biggest stars and the best records, with something to be broken: a 23 home-game winning streak for the Cavs.

Two days before, sports fans from two small Montanan towns met in a gym for a rivalry bout of their own.

If heart is what makes a rivalry game, then pound for pound, fans in Cleveland didn’t get the thrill that the crowd in Ronan did.

And unlike the Chiefs, the Cavs didn’t get a win.

He’s no Kobe and he’s no Lebron, but if scoring 15 points in a high school basketball game could make a hometown hero out of a senior high school basketball player, then that’s what Mike Fisher became on Friday.

Polson head coach Karl Tait had his compliments.

“Mike Fisher did a nice job in the pressure situation,” Tait said. “He had a good game. He’s a good competitor.”

Fisher didn’t do it alone by any means, but few who stood in the stands – nobody was sitting – will soon forget his performance when it was time to lose, or do whatever it took to get the win.

Ronan head coach Steve Woll spent all week talking to Fisher about what he needed to do when the Pirates came to town.

Slashing to the hole, taking jumpers in the key and getting to the free throw line is Fisher’s game, Woll said.

And Fisher played basketball his way on Friday.

It happened in come-from-behind fashion.

At the end of the third quarter, the score was 34-31 in favor of the Pirates. Polson got the jump in the fourth with a basket from sophomore Louis Mohr. Mohr was fouled on the play but couldn’t nail the free shot after.

Mohr continued to stick it to the Chiefs, nailing two more in a row then fouled to the line.

After Mohr made one of his free throws, Polson had allowed the Chiefs just a point in the final quarter and sat on a 9-point lead with just 3:47 remaining.

This is where the Cavs started to slow down, but the Chiefs took a time-out and mustered the will to see the game through.

After some words from Woll, Ronan was back on track. Senior Dallas Cordier did the dishes and junior Jay Sorell cleaned up. Now Polson led by only seven.

The following Chief possession turned into a disorganized frenzy, For 30 seconds the basketball took on a life of its own, Bobbling in and out of control but just staying in Chief hands until finally senior Nolan Harris slid a pass through to Sorell, who didn’t miss.

When Polson tried to come down the court, Harris picked up a mishandled ball and – this is when a hero was born and the stadium got incredibly loud – found none other than Fisher b-lining it to the Polson basket.

With 2:16 left, the Chiefs were down three.

Fisher went for the steal but was called out. Again Ronan recovered. Harris blasted one off but it didn’t find its way home. Instead Sorrell but the rebound in.

With Ronan down just one, it was anyone’s game.

When an object is in motion, it stays in motion, someone once said. It certainly seemed true of Ronan’s end-of the game pressure defense, because in a flash, Cordier had stripped the ball from Polson. The rock tumbled towards the side-line near mid-court but Cordier is quick – real quick. As he dove out of bounds to make the save, Fisher happened by.

Ball in hand, he went up strong but couldn’t get it to fall. He was fouled, and that meant with 57 seconds left, he would get to free throw chances to tie it up. He put his team ahead instead. If the crowd was loud before you never would have known it after the second shot fell.

The eruption was premature because things weren’t close to over. A minute’s a long time in a game like this.

With 35 seconds, Polson sophomore Kyle Bagnell made a beautiful move to get to the inside but couldn’t finish.

Fisher was fouled and found himself in the vice again. Fisher made one of the two, and gave his team a two-point cushion. Not mush fluff against Polson’s shooters.

Kyle got another shot, but didn’t score after taking a foul.

The score was 44-42 now, with just 13 seconds to play.

A rough game shooting so far didn’t stop Kyle from doing his part and then some. He was in a 1-1 situation and desperately needed them both. And with the spirit of a game that wouldn’t stop getting better, he made his first and then his second.

A tie game? Yes, sir.

Fisher took off. And he took the ball with him, and bragging rights rode on his shoulders.

He went up court, and made a shot just like any other except this one lit an entire gym on fire with excitement because he not only put his team up by two with six seconds left, but he also took a foul.

Things may have turned out all right for the Chiefs had Fisher missed that free throw, but why find out?

He swished it.

Polson took a time-out and the room quieted half a decibel while the teams talked it over.

The Pirates executed well, there is no doubt, The inbound went to Polson junior Tim Rausch, who launched it down court to the waiting hands of Kyle. From behind the three-point line he let it fly.

Not unlike Ronan junior Justin Dustybull’s buzzer attempt when things came down to it in Polson, the shot barely missed, the right side of the rim just edging it out of the basket.

It was celebration time for Fisher and the Chiefs and Ronan and anyone who loves a great basketball game.

As Woll put it, the rivalry met expectations – the Pirates barely took their home game and Ronan did the same.

“They were two games decided by a total of five points,” he said.

Afterwards, Fisher was glowing.

“I’m pretty excited. It was a big win,” he said. “Those are the best games to win, those ones that come down right to the end against a big rival.”

On Polson’s side, things were somber. Senior Ryan Kelley felt the loss in a big way.

“It burns the worst,” he said. “That’s for sure.”

Polson’s leading scorers were senior Craig Bagnell and Mohr with 13 each, Rausch with nine and senior Waylon Michel with five.

Ronan’s other play-maker was Sorrell with 11 points.

The next night the Pirates rebounded in a big way, making a little history of their own. They held their heads high, walked into Columbia Falls and took one away from the conference-leading Wildcats in their own barn.

That just isn’t easy to do, Tait said.

“That’s a tough place to play and a tough place to win,” Tait said. “What a job we did actually. A lot of credit to our kids, they played very well.”

A big win is perhaps the best way to get over a loss to a rival. Pulling one like that out is what a good ball club does after things don’t do right.

“It was just a great effort by our kids,” Tait said. “Especially after the tough loss to Ronan. It showed a lot of character.”

Kyle rebounded from the night before to lead his team with 19 points. Craig scored twelve and Michel had eight. Rausch scored 7, Kelley had six and Mohr scored three.

Polson plays at Eureka on Friday then at Bigfork on Tuesday.

Ronan plays at 7:30 p.m. at Bigfork on Friday then hosts Libby at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Polson.