Lady Pirates take divisional title, head to state

RONAN — All aboard the P-train. Next stop — Hamilton.

The Lady Pirates captured their first divisional title in 10 years after sweeping their way through the district tournament last week, beating Bigfork and Ronan before blowing out Libby in the finals Saturday night.

Things looked a little shaky for the team in their opener Wednesday when they squeaked by the Vals, 39-38, after Bigfork had a chance to win at the buzzer but couldn't hit the lay-up in traffic.

Offensively, the team took a while to warm up, going 1-for-10 from the 3-point line when Jenni Nesladek's trey in the second quarter brought Polson to within two points of the Vals.

Defensively, Nesladek and Strohm Fouty were all over the courts, causing multiple turnovers and getting several steals. A frustrated Polson team went to the locker room trailing by two at the half after three different Lady Pirates had a chance to shoot before the buzzer went off, but instead ended up eating the ball.

The second half was a whole different ball game, with Kara Huyser scoring the team's first seven points of the half. Huyser and Kari Mowbray had trouble scoring and rebounding in the first half, but had a complete turnaround in the second half.

Huyser finished with 14 points to lead all scorers, and both Mowbray and Huyser pulled down seven rebounds, dominating the smaller Bigfork team. Most of Mowbray's were defensive boards — something that eluded the team in the first half — while Huyser's offensive boards gave them much-needed second chances.

The Lady Pirates led 35-30 at the end of the third, eventually taking a 37-30 lead with 3:45 left in the game, but Bigfork battled back.

Nesladek's field goal at the 1:12 mark gave Polson a three-point lead, but Bigfork got a quick lay-up and then stole the ball with 12 seconds left, making it a 39-38 game and giving the Vals the last shot.

The Vals drove down the court and went in for the lay-up, only to have Huyser come through with a huge block with 3.2 seconds left. The ball fell in front of the basket, and two different Lady Vals had a chance for the win with a quick lay-up in traffic, but it didn't fall as the buzzer went off.

"All I was thinking was 'Don't foul, don't foul,'" Huyser said of her block and the last-second shots Bigfork put up around her.

More confident on Thursday

If the Lady Pirates looked a little shaky against Bigfork, they erased those doubts Thursday afternoon when they faced the top-ranked Ronan Maidens, who had earned a first-round bye.

Huyser picked up where she left off, getting two blocks in the first couple of minutes, as the Maidens struggled to get into their rhythm. The smaller, more nimble Ronan team knew they'd have to hit their outside shots, but didn't score until four minutes into the game.

After a shaky start, the Maidens scored five points in four seconds off a 3-pointer and steal, but trailed 15-11 after the first quarter.

Jen Orchard came alive, draining a 3-pointer to stop a Polson scoring drought in the second, en route to her 16-point total to lead all scorers. That and another trey from Fouty helped Polson take a 23-17 lead into the locker room at the half.

Again, Polson had the chance for the last shot before the buzzer at the end of the third, but couldn't get it off. However, the Maidens' scoring woes continued, and they trailed by seven going into the fourth.

Ronan went 5:50 into the fourth quarter before Jamie Lake drove the lane for the team's first points in the quarter.

Orchard was on fire during the second half, feeding Mowbray dishes inside and hitting the outside shots when she needed to. Fouty also came alive in the second half, finishing with a dozen points, along with Mowbray.

Faced with a clock running down, the Maidens were forced to foul, sending Mowbray and Fouty to the line, who extended the Lady Pirates' lead to 11 in the last few seconds. A last-minute score by the Maidens was the best they could muster, making the final score 43-35.

Some of the team confessed to being really nervous going into the game against Ronan, especially coming off the too-close-for-comfort win over Bigfork.

"The fact that they had a bye really worried us. We were tired from our game against Bigfork," Mowbray said. "My co-captain Strohm (Fouty) and I talked about it going into the game. We knew facing Ronan would be tough, and we talked about it as a team."

"I was really worried about the game," Huyser said. "We knew it would be tough.

The only time I finally felt secure (about the victory) was during the last minute of the game."

Thursday's win/loss set up in interesting situation — a win by Ronan on Saturday afternoon would guarantee Polson a trip to the state tourney, while a win by Polson in the championship would guarantee the Maidens the right to play second-place Libby on Monday night for a chance to go to the "big dance" — assuming Ronan won on Saturday.

"It's probably the first time in the history of Lake County that Ronan fans were rooting for Polson and Polson fans were rooting for Ronan," head coach Bruce Thomas remarked over the weekend.

But the Maidens couldn't do it, falling to Whitefish on Saturday, meaning the Lady Pirates had to win that night or risk playing a consolation game against Whitefish Monday night.

Most of the team gathered at Fouty's house to listen to the game on the radio, only to find out that they had to earn it.

And earn it they did.

"We were all at my house when we found out (Ronan lost), so we knew we needed a win against Libby going into the championship game," Fouty said. "I liked the idea of playing Libby. We were the underdogs, which was good."

"We felt that Ronan was better than Libby, so if we could beat Ronan, we could beat Libby. The win over Ronan gave us a lot of momentum," Thomas said.

Lady Pirates upset Libby

If the Lady Pirates were the lower seed, they sure didn't look like it Saturday night, as Fouty came shooting out of the gates, draining her first trey of the night a few seconds after tip-off.

Orchard and Fouty took turns stealing the ball and hitting 3-pointers, totaling three 3-pointers, 16 points and and three steals in the opening quarter between the two of them. A 3-pointer by Nesladek gave Polson a 21-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Libby tried a zone defense in the second, but that just left Fouty and Orchard more open, as Fouty hit two more treys to start the second quarter. Huyser came through with four points and Emily Fors added two of her own to help the team to a 34-27 lead at half.

Fouty hit another trey in the third, and Mowbray began to pull down rebounds right and left, opening up a 39-27 lead as Libby failed to score the first four minutes into the half.

Orchard went coast to coast for a lay-up, while the Logger's frustration culminated in a technical foul called on Libby coach Jim May, as he watched Polson take a 46-29 lead into the fourth.

The Loggers had scored just two points in the entire third quarter. Although they had plenty of open shots, they just couldn't buy a bucket.

"It just seemed like everything went our way," Thomas said.

Huyser, Nesladek and Mowbray put the icing on the cake in the fourth, picking up two points each while Polson spread its offense out to work the clock down.

Fouty led all scorers with 18, Orchard had 12, Huyser had eight, Mowbray had six and Nesladek finished with five. Fors, Jaelin Vanderburg and Alia Eraky also chipped in a couple apiece, and frosh Jessica Buckless turned in a free throw at the end.

The team came out shooting 67 percent in the first quarter and a whopping 75 percent from 3-point land, getting 27 points total — more productive than a lot of halves they had during the season.

"We wanted to be excited about the game, but stay relaxed at the same time," Orchard said. "I didn't care whether we played Libby or Whitefish (for the chance to go to state) — a basketball team is a basketball team."

"We were so focused, I couldn't believe it. I have never felt so focused like I was then," Fouty said after the game.

Open against Browning tonight

The Lady Pirates will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against Browning, who finished second in the central division. Browning has a reputation for pressing, which the Lady Pirates need to be prepared for, Thomas said.

"Browning likes to press full and half court. We need to be effective in getting the right people in the right position to break the press, and we had a little trouble doing that against Libby in the first half," Thomas said.

He said Polson can probably expect a taller, more aggressive set of guards.

"From what I hear about Browning they've got some pretty tall guards — 5 '9, 5'10 — so that's something that concerns me," he said. "We're not used to playing guards that tall."

If Polson wins Thursday, they'll play Friday at 8 p.m., and a win there puts them in the championship game. A loss on Thursday will send them to the loser's bracket, where they will play Friday at 2 p.m. The state tourney is double elimination, but one loss puts you out of championship contention.

Polson 39, Bigfork 38

Pirates 9 9 17 4 - 39

Lady Vals 12 8 10 8 - 38

POLSON: Kara Huyser 14, Kari Mowbray 10, Strohm Fouty 5, Jen Orchard 3, Jenni Nesladek 3, Jaelin Vandeburg 2, Alia Eraky 2.

Polson 43, Ronan 35

Pirates 14 9 10 10 - 43

Maidens 11 6 9 9 - 35

POLSON:Jen Orchard 16, Strohm Fouty 12, Kari Mowbray 12, Kara Huyser 2, Jenni Nesladek 1

Polson 56, Libby 40

Pirates 27 7 12 10 - 56

Loggers 17 10 2 11 - 40

POLSON: Strohm Fouty 18, Jen Orchard 12, Kara Huyser 8, Kari Mowbray 6, Jenni Nesladek 5, Alia Eraky 2, Jaelin Vandeburg 2, Emily Fors 2, Jessica Buckless 1