Lady Pirates look solid early on

The Polson Lady Pirates looked solid last weekend, going 2-0 at the Tip-Off tourney to open up the season, but will face some stiff conference action this weekend.

The Lady Pirates opened up the action Friday night against Corvallis, winning 42-32, with a good offensive and defensive performance.

"I was really pleased with our defense. Anytime you hold two teams to 32 and 26 points you are doing a good job," said head coach Bruce Thomas. "Offensively, we were better Saturday than we were Friday, which is what you want — some improvement."

Jen Orchard led all players with 14, but she had plenty of support from her teammates, with Kara Huyser getting seven points, Gracie Sartori and Emily Fors both had six, Jaelin Vandeberg had three and Jessica Buckless, Merilee Mowbray and Tatianna Kimler adding two each.

Against Hamilton, the girls looked even better, again spreading the scoring out with Sartori and Orchard getting 14 apiece. Huyser had eight, Buckless had seven, Brittany Gardner added a deuce and Fors had one.

Thomas noted how much confidence Buckless had as a sophomore in Saturday's game, as she added some steals and drove through the lane.

"Jessica did a nice job for us on Saturday. She was much more relaxed," Thomas noted. "She had some good steals and some lay-ins."

Huyser is a steady player on offense and defense, and really comes alive in the second half of the season, Thomas noted. Last year, Huyser really cranked it up a notch in the district tournament to help get the team to the state tourney.

"Kara can shoot the 3-pointer but we have her playing the post more as inside threat. Her presence defensively has also been good for us," Thomas said.

Fors and Vandeberg bring good experience and comfort on the court from last year, and both players are steady contributors who play smart game in and game out.

"Emily just is real steady for us. She just goes out and does her job. Jaelin is really tough on defense. She's going to have nights when she doesn't score and nights when she scores 20," Thomas said.

The prospect of a Sartori/Orchard offensive threat should keep other teams on their toes, but the Lady Pirates will to play tough as they host Whitefish and Libby on Friday and Saturday.

"That's a tough Whitefish team coming in on Friday, and then Libby on Saturday, so we jump right into the frying pan. Whitefish is in mid-season form. We have to stop their pressure and hope we can make some shots," Thomas said.