Maidens come up short at divisional tourney

RONAN — The Ronan Maidens finished a successful regular season with several close games in the Northwestern Class A divisional they hosted last weekend.

Ronan defeated Columbia Falls on Friday, but ran into a buzzsaw called Polson the day before to set up a game to decide a potential challenge contest on Monday if the Maidens could beat Whitefish.

After a hearty effort by Ronan on Saturday, their senior-laden squad succumbed to superior rebounding and inside presence by the Lady Bulldogs, and their 57-52 loss put a cap on their season.

"I've always said there is a lot of parity in this league, and anything can happen during tournament time," said Maidens coach Dave Paisley. "I think what you take from this season is that the girls had an outstanding regular season, winning the Northwestern division, and they never stopped fighting."

The Maidens entered the tournament as a number one seed, and as such gained a bye in the first round. With a 15-3 record, Ronan had beaten every team in their division at least once, and they were hosting the tournament so they boasted a large crowd of supporters for their games.

But Polson played a perfect tournament, winning three games, and their defensive pressure led them in their victory over Ronan. The Lady Pirates used their height advantage with 6-foot-1 center Kara Huyser and Kari Mowbray to play a ball-control offense and prevent second-chance opportunities to Ronan on the boards.

Ronan just seemed off their game on Thursday versus Polson, and when the shots aren't falling any favorite can be derailed. For instance, even when the Maidens would steal the ball, their fast break would get caught in traffic and end up with a loose ball.

The Pirates did a good job of contesting Ronan's shots, and that frustration led to some bad passing by Ronan.

Uneven foul shooting by both sides kept the score low, but the Lady Pirates had an answer for every Ronan charge, with Lady Pirate Strohm Fouty getting inside for several open looks.

Jamie Lake's lay-up with 2:09 to go made the score 39-28 Polson, but after that the foul game denouement led to a 43-35 Lady Pirate victory.

"The plan was to box out, but it didn't go our way today," said Lauryn Lynch.

"Our shots weren't falling."

The Maidens moved to the consolation bracket and faced Columbia Falls on Friday. The lack of a clear point guard for Ronan meant some early turnovers plagued the Maidens.

Yet Ronan never stopped their defensive intensity. With smaller players, the Maidens have relied on active footwork and help defense to enable them to keep taller players at bay. That defensive effort kept the Lady Wildcats off the scoreboard for the first three minutes of the second quarter, but Columbia Falls still claimed a 25-19 lead at halftime.

The third quarter featured much of the same back-and-forth action until the Wildkats' Jenna Toole banked a three-pointer from 25 feet as the quarter expired for a 39-32 advantage.

That unlikely shot, and the specter of their season ending, seemed to exhilarate Ronan as they went on a 12-point run to open the fourth quarter. Lake had a block and lay-up to start the scoring, and the Maidens started to hit their free throws too.

Lake also made a steal and got fouled hard on a breakaway lay-up. After a timeout, she was not given any free throws as the referees decided she hadn't started her shooting motion, which drew boos from the partisan crowd.

Krell started to perk up and hit several inside shots to extend Ronan's lead to 44-39. Columbia Falls looked confused on defense as they couldn't keep track of their assignments on successive possessions.

But Toole would not let the Wildkats go away. She hit a jumper and worked for position inside, drawing fouls to give Columbia Falls a 47-45 lead with two minutes to play.

Much like Kevin McHale, Krell has perfected the up and under move and her pivotal bucket and foul shot with 1:10 to go gave Ronan a 48-47 lead. Columbia Falls scored on Beth Karper's back-door cut and Jamie Lake's free throw provided the final points in the fourth quarter that ended knotted at 49. The Wildkats had two close opportunities in the final seconds, but they couldn't convert.

In the overtime, Ronan played like a senior team. Lynch made a rebound lay-up, and Lake converted a free throw after a Columbia Falls turnover. With only a 52-49 lead, the Maidens went to a delay offense for the final two minutes, and the Wildkats were never able to close the gap.

"We may have been a little worried at first, but coach told us we need to just take our shots and not expect to get fouled on every shot," said Bridget Taylor.

The result set up the Saturday consolation final with Whitefish, and Ronan still had a chance to make the trip to state if Polson won the championship and Ronan won their final.

While it was a close effort, Ronan couldn't find enough open shots in the fourth quarter after a tense first three sessions led to a 39-39 tie. Ronan held an eight-point halftime lead, but the Lady Bulldogs beat the Maidens downcourt for several outlet passes that led to easy baskets.

The Maidens continued to attack and the score was tight was less than a minute to play. Lynch hit a pair of free throws to close the deficit to 52-50 with 30 seconds to play, but Ronan couldn't take the lead against Whitefish. Ronan forced a jump-ball on defense, but alternate possession gave the ball to the Lady Bulldogs. The Maidens had to foul, and Whitefish made one of two free throws. A left-handed lay-up by Lake made it 53-52 with 11 seconds left, but Whitefish made free throws from that point to up the final score.

The Maidens will lose Kayla Couture, Cambrie Starkel, Des Krell, Jamie Lake, Annie McDonald, Amber Johnson, Kira Crenshaw, and Bridget Taylor to graduation. "We have a number of good underclassmen coming through the system, but we'll miss our seniors who are leaving," said Paisley.

Whitefish 57, Ronan 52

Whitefish 9 15 17 16 - 57

Ronan 13 19 7 13 - 52

WHITEFISH: Ashley Ferda 17, Erin Greiner 17, Kyla Salisbury 14, Tracy Schwada 6, Tessa Kalfell 5.

RONAN: Jamie Lake 12, Bridget Taylor 10, Lauryn Lynch 9, Cambrie Starkel 9, Des Krell 8, Kira Crenshaw 2.

Ronan 56, Columbia Falls 51 OT

Columbia Falls 14 11 14 10 2 - 51

Ronan 12 7 13 17 6 - 56

C. FALLS: Jenna Toole 15, Danielle Herman 11, Callie Spencer 9, Beth Karper 8, Bekah Stoltz 4, Kim Pearce 2, Jessica Boyer 2.

RONAN: Des Krell 15, Jamie Lake 14, Bridget Taylor 10, Lauryn Lynch 9, Kayla Couture 5, Cambrie Starkel 2, Kira Crenshaw 1.

Polson 43, Ronan 35

Polson 11 9 10 10 - 43

Ronan 11 6 9 9 - 35

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

RONAN: Cambrie Starkel 9, Jamie Lake 9, Des Krell 8, Kayla Couture 5, Bridget Taylor 2, Lauryn Lynch 2.