Lady Pirates survive scare in Bigfork By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

The Polson Lady Pirates are now 8-0, after surviving a scare by Bigfork last week, and then getting a romp over Frenchtown last Thursday.

Against Bigfork, Kara Huyser came up with an offensive rebound and put the ball back in to give the girls the win with two seconds left in what was their closest scare of the year.

"Bigfork is always tough at home. We knew that going in," said head coach Bruce Thomas.

Against Frenchtown, the girls had an easier time, getting the 70-25 win last Thursday behind an 18-point performance from Jessica Buckless. Buckless was starting in place of Gracie Sartori, who was out sick.

"She certainly took advantage of the opportunity," Thomas said.

The Lady Pirates jumped out to a 25-6 lead, knocking the lights out in the first quarter, and never looked back. From there, it was hard for Frenchtown to dig themselves out of such a hole.

"We just got on a roll. Twenty-five points is sometimes as much as we score in three quarters," Thomas noted.

Jen Orchard finished closely behind Buckless with 16 points, Jaelin Vandeberg had four, Huyser had nine, Emily Fors had seven, Kendra Wolstad had six, Angela Schuman had four, Merilee Mowbray had two, and Brittany Gardner and Tatianna Kimler both had two.

Perhaps the biggest problem for the Lady Pirates is dealing with their win streak. Thomas said the team prefers to look at as being 8-10 — they have 10 games left until the divisional tourney (in which the regular season record only gives you a good seed, not a guaranteed state berth).

"Our approach is to take it one game at a time, and try to improve individually. The team set a goal to hold each team under 30 points. We really concentrate on our defense. We are a defense-minded team, and my experience is that nerves hurt offense, but not defense," Thomas said of the pressure the team faces with each win.

Of course, losing a game or two isn't the end of the world, either, he said.

"We're human. It's in the back of our heads," Thomas said.

The girls will host Columbia Falls Friday night, and the Wildkats are better than their record indicates, Thomas said. The Wildkats are the last game in the first round of conference action before the Lady Pirates face some non-conference games. However, most of their conference games are away the second half of the season.

"That will be a challenge," Thomas said.