Chiefs get big win over Mission, face Polson today

Zach Urness

Leader Staff

Someone ought to check Cameron Barber’s shoes for springs. The lone starting senior on the Chiefs’ young team consistently rose close to and above the rim on jump-shots, rebounds and even a dunk, to lead Ronan past the Mission Bulldogs on Saturday with a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Ronan also lost to third-ranked AA Sentinel on Tuesday to go 1-1 on the week to move to 5-7 on the season.

“We played pretty well this week,” said head coach John Hollow. “We were in the game the whole time against Sentinel. I was happy with how we played against Mission in the second half.”

The Mission ‘Dog House was packed to the rafters on Saturday to watch the Chiefs do battle with the Bulldogs. Moss Tanner got things started for Ronan with a steal and a score for a 2-0 lead. Nolan Harris then hit a 3-point basket to increase the lead to 5-0. The Bulldogs fought back though, responding with an 8-0 run that energized the loud home crowd. But Barber wasn’t frazzled, and picked up his team at the end of the first quarter with six points, including one on a fancy inbound ally-oop that gave Ronan the lead 15-12.

Barber got the second quarter by rising high on a missed shot and putting it back in smoothly to open up a 19-14 lead. The Bulldogs didn’t go away, scoring on a 3-pointer from Cory Geis to take the lead 23-21.

Mike Fisher then got into the act for the Chiefs, hitting a trey to make the lead 27-23 and later hitting a short jump-shot to give Ronan a 30-29 lead at the end of a fast-paced first half.

“I wasn’t real happy with how we played in the first half,” said Hollow. “We looked impatient on offense and we kind of played into their hands.”

Hollow kept Mission guessing with a variety of defensive looks, including a full court press and a few mid court zone presses that kept pressure on the Bulldogs’ guards.

“We were trying to cause some turnovers and get some offensive opportunities,” he said. “But in the second we decided that we were just going to play man-to-man defense the whole way and make them beat us that way.”

Mission came out in a 2-3 zone at the beginning of the third quarter and slowed the pace of the game considerably. Tanner got things moving for the Chiefs with a dish to Gene Adams, who scored, bringing the score to 34-33. Tanner continued to play well in the third, scoring on back-to-back plays and pushing the lead to 42-35, and 45-37 at the end of a good third quarter.

The Bulldogs pulled to within 10 points at the beginning of the fourth, but Cameron Barber made sure that they never got any closer, as he grabbed a rebound and scored, took a pass from Tanner and scored, and topped it all off with a monster dunk over Bulldog defenders that ensured a Chief victory by a final score of 64-50.

“Cameron got in some foul trouble and that has been his Achilles heal all season,” said Hollow of Barber. “He is a great player. He reads the ball really well off the glass and has great instincts.”

Barber led the team with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Moss Tanner had his usual well-rounded game with 14 points, four steals and seven assists. Mike Fisher had eight points, Kyle Orr had six, Nolan Harris and Gene Adams each had five points. Billy Antoine had three points and Jordan St. Clair added two. Ryon Hesselgesser added five rebounds for the Chiefs.

“Ryan really picked things up for us when Cameron was on the bench,” commented Hollow. Ronan out-rebounded Mission 43-26.

The Chiefs came out on fire against AA Missoula Sentinel on Tuesday Jan. 16, jumping out to a 19-8 lead after the first half. Ronan was unable to sustain their hot offense, however, and was outscored 52-27 the rest of the way in a frustrating loss, 60-52. Ronan was out-rebounded 21 to 30 but had seven 3-point baskets to Sentinel’s three.

“They were just a huge team,” said Hollow. “We held own against them though, we were in it until the end.”

Nolan Harris led the way with 12 points, all of which came from behind the arc. Moss Tanner followed with 10 points and Cameron Barber had six points and led the team with four rebounds. Jordan St. Clair contributed five points, Gene Adams had four points, and Mike Fisher and Kyle Orr each had two points.

The Chiefs will go for the sweep of Polson tonight (Thursday, Jan. 25) at Linderman Gym in Polson and will take on Columbia Falls at home on Saturday, Jan. 27.

“We have some huge games coming up,” expounded Hollow. “We need to get some wins to get back in things and get some confidence. I think a lot of the teams in our conference are pretty evenly matched. Columbia Falls is one of the top teams in the conference and Polson, is, well, Polson, that’s all you need to say. It’s a rivalry game.”