Pirates have big week ahead of them

The Polson Pirates were able to bounce back Saturday night with a solid 50-39 win over Bigfork behind good offense from Zach Langston and Tyler Gordon, and solid defense, after a frustrating loss to Frenchtown last Thursday when they couldn't quite pull off the comeback.

Against Bigfork, Gordon's 12 points and Langston's 11 paced the team, but defense was key, holding the Vikings to just two points in the fourth.

"We played pretty good on defense, holding Bigfork to only two points in the fourth. We'd had a couple of quarters like that ourselves during the season, so it was nice to turn the tables," head coach Karl Tait said. "We had some nice scoring from Zach Langston that we hadn't had yet, and Tyler Gordon had a good game, too."

The team had solid stats all around, turning the ball over only six times, Tait said, and forcing nine Bigfork turnovers. Overall, the Pirates had a complete reversal from the game against Frenchtown.

"We were 4-for-9 from the [free throw] line, and we shot pretty well from the field - 17-for-32," Tait said. "We also went 4-for-6 from the three-point line."

Gordon and Langston had good help, with Craig Bagnell and John Rausch both tossing in seven points, Chris Ogle had six, Ryan Kelley had four, and Tim Rausch had three.

Against Frenchtown, the team had a solid 18-point performance from John Rausch, who led a late-game rally, but they came up short, 55-51, hampered by a 11-for-24 performance from the free throw line.

Polson started off well, moving the ball around the perimeter, and was down only 8-7 after the first.

Spenser Sias had a nice offensive rebound and put the shot back in with a foul in the second, and Kelley came up with some good steals, but the team couldn't contain Frenchtown's Nate Lebsock, who ended up with 24 total on the night.

"That Lebsock kid is really court-savvy. He's one of the better guards in the state. We controlled him the first quarter

A 3-pointer by John Rausch gave the team a 16-13 lead, but the Broncs came back to take a 23-17 lead at the half.

Rausch broke a four-minute scoring drought in the third with a running jumper, and a Bagnell jumper at the top of the key off a fast break looked like the spark the team needed, but they trailed by 11 halfway through the third.

Kelley was fouled on a lay-up, hitting his free throw, but the ref said he stepped over the line, and Polson was down 40-27 at the end of the third frame.

But, they came out on fire in the fourth, as Gordon scored the first four points, and Bagnell hit a trey to make it 46-36. Rausch really came alive, driving the lane for two several times in traffic, and Langston's roller with 17 seconds left made it 53-49.

Rausch went coast-to-coast, making the lay-up with a second left on the clock, but Polson needed another minute on the clock to pull it out.

Rausch had 18, Bagnell had 12, Gordon had eight, Langston had five, Sias and Ogle had three, and Kelley had two on the night.

Despite the loss, Tait was pleased with the comeback effort.

"I was proud of the way the kids played hard, and came back pretty well. We're shooting well from the two points out, and playing sound defense," he said.

Polson will now host five of their next six games at home, and will face some stiff competition Friday night when Columbia Falls comes to town, followed by Libby on Saturday. It's one of those years when even the teams at the bottom of the league are going head-to-head with conference leaders, Tait noted.

"This will be a good stretch for us. Libby is supposed to win the conference, but C. Falls is always in there. If we play well and we are careful, we should do well against these teams," Tait said. "It's one of those years when anything can happen."

Saturday's game against Libby is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., while Friday's will probably start closer to 7 p.m.