Showdown at the 'Dog pound

Anyone expecting a blowout at last Friday's Chiefs-Bulldogs match-up had to respect the fact that the 'Dogs gave fans their money's worth for much of the game.

But the Chiefs showed they've got the bench and speed to compete, even on an off-shooting night when they struggled with the outside shot, winning 70-54 using their "fun and gun" style of play that relies on fast breaks and quick ball movement.

"We want to play that style of game to an extent, but not quite the extent that we played Friday night," Ronan head coach John Hollow said. "We didn't shoot the ball as well as I'd hoped, but when you rely on your perimeter shot, you are going to have those types of games."

The Chiefs went man-to-man immediately, and used outlet passes to work the ball down court quickly. Jordan St. Clair had a give-and-go to Nolan Harris for the reverse, before Makenzy Kelch had a steal and an outlet pass to Harris to make it 4-0.

But Mission had no intentions of going quietly, using its press to put some pressure on the Chiefs' guards. Mission point guard Dallas Cordier controlled the offense, while he and Lucas McDonald had some key shots to finish with 11 points each on the night.

For Mission, Jorren Gies led all scorers with 21, McDonald had five, Riley Charlo had two, and Alex Morigeau had four.

"Jorren got off to a slow start, but he has that capability. That's what I call a 'quiet' 21," Mission head coach Steve Woll said.

A 3-pointer by Cordier gave Mission a 12-11 lead, and then Nakota McDonald added another trey, and Mission finished the first quarter up 16-15, catching Ronan off guard early on.

"Nakota was a huge asset to us, and [freshman] Riley Charlo is catching on, too. It's tough playing varsity as a freshman, but he's catching on, too," Woll said.

Mission used a 2-3 zone once they saw Ronan was having a hard time with the outside shot, and it worked early on, but the Chiefs did a good job on the offensive boards, getting key second chances to that kept them in the game.

Moss Tanner opened the second quarter with two lay-ups to give his team a 19-16 lead, and they never looked back. Ryon Hesselgesser had a great game off the bench, scoring 12 points, second only to Tanner's 20 on the team.

"Ryon had a great game, with 12 points, seven boards and four steals. Eddie Ness came in and did a great job when Nolan [Harris] got in foul trouble early on," Hollow said. "That's great that those guys can come off the bench and contribute that much."

Ness finished with nine points, Mike Fisher had eight, Kelch had four, St. Clair had six and Harris finished with 11, despite spending much of the first half on the bench due to foul trouble. Ness also had a couple of steals and was able to work for the last shot before the half, as Ronan took a 31-25 lead going into the locker rooms.

In the second half, the Chiefs' deep bench helped the team stay fresh, and its starters came alive. Harris, Tanner and St. Clair capped the third with a 3-pointer each to make it 56-36. Fisher had a good second half, getting some key steals and drawing fouls by driving the lane.

"We were going to try to control the tempo, but they were so quick we didn't stay in our press too long. I thought we surprised them a little bit with our tempo — we stayed with them for most of the game — but turnovers and free throws killed us," Woll said. "I wish we could have kept the game closer at the end, but they did a good job."

McDonald added two 3-pointers for Mission in the fourth, but the 'Dogs had too much of an uphill battle ahead of them to pull off the comeback.

Still, Mission impressed everyone by staying with a bigger, faster Ronan team that has already beat several other quality A schools. Hollow said he wasn't surprised Mission came out like gangbusters.

"First, it's a rivalry game. We play those guys all summer long so everybody knows each other's strengths and weaknesses. Second, they are playing up [to Class A], so the game means a lot to their program. They did a good job of extending the zone on us, and we had a hard time hitting a lot of our shots," Hollow said.

"We knew they'd come out and press us. We knew they'd be 'bigger, faster, stronger,' but I thought we handled their pressure pretty well," Woll said. "You get to that point where you are close enough and want the W, but they're a better team."

Mission traveled to Loyola Tuesday, and results were unavailable by presstime. The team will travel to Eureka on Friday for the last game before Christmas break.

In a blow to the 'Dogs, Gies will be out of town for the next few weeks, and will miss the Eureka game Friday, and the Troy game after the Christmas break — both conference games.

"Eureka is big, physical and athletic," Woll said. "We'll have our hands full."

Ronan 61, Hamilton 49

In Hamilton, Mike Fisher came alive offensively to score 18 points — one of three Chiefs in double digits. Nolan Harris had 17 and Moss Tanner had 16, which Kelch contributed three, Ness had four, St. Clair had two and Hesselgesser had a free throw.

"Defensively, we played really well, but we had trouble shooting again. In our first two games [of the season] we shot 19 of 41 for 3-pointers, but in our last two games, we're only 7 of 31," Hollow said. "But Hamilton tried to play us man [to man] in the third quarter, and we're just a tough team to do that with."

With the win, Ronan moves to 4-0 on the year, and will open conference play against Whitefish Saturday away. The Chiefs will have their first home game Thursday when they host Valley Christian in non-conference action. The frosh game will start a little before 5 p.m., with four-minute quarters, and the varsity should start around 7 p.m. as usual.