Lady Pirates can't close door on Libby

By Ethan Smith - Leader Staff

Ouch.

The Polson Lady Pirates let a 10-point lead slip in the fourth quarter, as the Lady Loggers made a come-from-behind victory last Saturday night in a demoralizing 38-34 conference loss.

“We held them to 19 points in the first three quarters, then give up 19 in the fourth — that’s frustrating,” head coach Randy Kelley said. “We lost our focus defensively, and we just couldn’t buy a shot.”

Up 27-19 in the fourth, Libby made it a two-point game with less than two minutes to go, and Polson found itself down by two at 1:25.

Sarah Newton was the lone bright spot in the final frame, getting some key free throws and playing good defense, but in the end, Libby had the momentum.

“It’s that frustration of knowing ‘Here comes Libby,’” Kelley said. “The defense was what bothered me most. Some nights you aren’t going to shoot as well, but defensively, we need to be able to pick it up when things get ugly.”

Kelley said it just came down to the team not being able to put the game away, and he was right — the warning signs were there early on.

Despite a Libby press, Polson jumped out to a 10-3 lead after one, as Libby struggled offensively in the first half. The team worked great passes inside to Merilee Mowbray and Cali Hislop, and got good help from Rochelle Woods on the perimeter. By late in the second, Libby had only scored seven points in the first 11 minutes, but Polson couldn’t get that huge lead it needed.

A steal by Nicole Davey and a lay-up, and a 3-pointer by Jessica Buckless, and Polson only led 18-12 at the half.

Newton, though, had her second double double of the year, with 10 rebounds and 10 points. Buckless, normally the team’s defensive specialist, had foul trouble late in the game, and Kelley had to go to his subs to try to find some combination of defense and scoring.

Still, a total of seven girls scored for Polson, showing they have the depth, but just couldn’t put Libby away for good that night. Mowbray had nine points, Amanda James had two, Buckless had four, Woods had three, Davey had four, and Hislop had a pair for the Lady Pirates.

“We did a good job containing Jackie Mee, and we proved we could play with them, but when they are coming back like that we needed to respond to that, and we didn’t,” Kelley said.

He was pleased with Newton’s performance.

“With Sarah, you know what you are going to get. Some girls have off nights, but not with Sarah,” Kelley said.

Polson 52, Eureka 33

The loss followed a non-conference win over Eureka Thursday, in which Mowbray led the team with 15, and Davey had a great game with 10 points.

Polson forced 33 turnovers, after coming slow out of the gate.

“We came out flat in the first period, then got going and picked it up defensively. We held them to only 15 points in the second half,” Kelley said.

Buckless scored eight, Woods had three, Brianne Kelley had eight, Sierra Pete had two, Newton had four and Hislop had two.

“Merilee really stepped up, and Nicole Davey did a great job for us,” Kelley said.

It’s now the halfway point in the season, with everyone playing each conference team once, and Polson has two conference games coming up. Whitefish beat them up there, after Polson had 32 turnovers, but they’ll host the Lady Bulldogs Saturday here at home before traveling to Bigfork next Tuesday.

Bigfork is undefeated in the conference, while Polson is 2-3, having lost two conference games by a total of five points, including one point to Bigfork after being down by 17.

“We are where we need to be right now, and we’re definitely improving,” Kelley said. “We’re starting round two, and we need two conference wins this week. We can play with those teams, but we just need to be there at the end and put those in the win column.”