Colton Woods helped lead the team with 19 points.

Pirates hand Columbia Falls their first conference loss

The Polson Pirates handed the No. 2 Columbia Falls Wildcats what could be their only conference loss of the season, almost making it look easy, as they coasted to a 58-41 win to give the team the shot in the arm they needed to finish the year.

The team also had a 76-35 win over Ronan on Saturday.

On Thursday against Columbia Falls, the team jumped out to a big 20-11 lead as Gabe Caye and Colton Woods drained two 3-pointers each in the first quarter, en route to 18 and 19-point totals on the night.

Caye had a breakout night, getting five steals and seven assists, as well, which helped the team build a 15-point lead at halftime.

Columbia Falls matched Polson's 13 points in the fourth, but Polson absolutely controlled the tempo and played a clean game with few mistakes, unlike their first time against the Wildcats.

"We shot better and didn't turn the ball over. When I looked at the film afterwards we didn't need to make any wholesale changes," head coach Karl Tait said of the team's performance. "We just needed to do the little things right, which we didn't do up there."

The team only had seven turnovers on the night, but best of all, it was a good confidence boost for the team.

"This was a big boost for our psyche. We found out we could play with one of the best teams around," Tait said.

James Langston finished with 13, Chris Ogle had two, Bubba Michel had five and Craig Bagnell had one point.

Against Ronan, Langston led all scorers with 24, while Michel had 13, Woods had 11, Caye had 10, Ogle had six, John Rausch and Andy Nelson had two, Craig Bagnell had four, Zach Langston had two and PJ Auld had two.

The team will travel to Libby Friday for the last game of the regular season, and is looking at a possible No. 2 seed for the divisional tourney. They beat the Loggers at home in mid-December by 17 points, and Tait is hoping the shot in the arm the team got this week will serve them well next week at the divisional tourney in Columbia Falls.

"When you play with confidence, you turn the ball over fewer times, you don't make as many mistakes, you get the rebounds you need to - it's the little things," Tait said. "Those were the things we talked about that had to happen."