Ronan Chiefs can clinch Northwestern A's top seed

By Ethan Smith / Leader Staff

The Ronan Chiefs had what it took to put the game away against Whitefish last Thursday night, winning 68-66 behind 31 points from Moss Tanner, and can clinch a top seed in the divisional tourney w ith a win over Polson tonight.

Thursday's rematch isn't just a crosstown rivalry. Polson gave Ronan its only conference loss of the season last month, and with it, Ronan has had a tenuous lead in the northwest conference. Columbia Falls also has only one conference loss, to Ronan, but the two teams will face each other one more time, in Columbia Falls.

Last Thursday's win over Whitefish demonstrates how tough the conference is. That was the fourth conference loss Whitefish has had by two points or less. In fact, there have been about 10 one or two-point games in the conference this year, including one buzzer beater (Ronan vs. C. Falls), one almost buzzer beater (Polson vs. Libby), and a couple overtime wins, including Polson's first meeting with Whitefish.

If the Chiefs win Thursday night against Polson, they will clinch a one or two seed in the conference, which guarantees them a first-round bye in the divisional tourney which starts the third week of February. Last Thursday's game against Whitefish showed not only how competitive the conference is, but that the Chiefs have the strength to hold onto a win late in the game.

The 68-66 final score was a little misleading — Whitefish hit two 3-pointers tossed up in the last 30 seconds, including one at the buzzer — but regardless the Chiefs made the free throws when they needed to and ran time off the clock.

"Where they hurt us up there (in Whitefish) was on offensive boards. They had 24 points up there off of rebounds," head coach John Hollow said. "We played mostly man up there, and that was our game plan for last week. I thought we did pretty well defensively, but we were up by five to seven points for most of the fourth quarter, and we just couldn't put the game away."

Ronan had the lead for most of the first half, handling the Bulldogs' press in the first quarter. But bad passes led to turnovers in the second, and Whitefish took a brief lead, as the teams traded leads throughout. Tanner, Mike Fisher and Nolan Harris hit 3-pointers late in the second, but Whitefish managed to keep themselves in the game, including hitting a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to make it 38-33 Ronan.

Tanner was on fire, driving the lane and hitting the rolling jumpers, or dishing off to a teammate. He finished with 13 rebounds and seven assists, in addition to the 31 points.

"Absolutely amazing. That's the thing that's overlooked by Moss — he can do that every game," Hollow said.

"For whatever reason, Whitefish couldn't stop him. He'd drive the lane, and if they filled it, he'd feed it to someone else. And if they didn't drop down to defend, he'd just take it for the layup. He probably creates 20 points a game, either off assists or drawing the defense in to him."

Tanner had plenty of help, with good scoring games from Mike Fisher, who had 12 on the night, and Nolan Harris, with 13. Ryon Hesselgesser, who missed the first game against the Bulldogs, had four, Eddie Ness and Jordan St. Clair had three and Makenzy Kelch had two.

In the third quarter, Kelch had a huge play, diving out of bounds to throw the ball back in, and it bounced off a Bulldog, going out of bounds to give the Chiefs an important possession. From there, Fisher had a nice feed to Ness underneath to make it 53-51, and Ronan took a one-point lead into the fourth.

Steals from Harris and Tanner led to more points, and from there, free throws kept the Chiefs in the game. Overall, Tanner was 6-for-7 from the line, Fisher was 3-for-5, and Harris was 2-for-2 on the night.

At one point in the fourth, Ronan was up 61-54, but Whitefish hit some off-balance shots, including one 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, to keep the game close. St. Clair hit a free throw late in the game, and then it was a matter of running time off the clock, which the Chiefs managed to do with less than a minute left.

The Chiefs traveled to Missoula to face Valley Christian Saturday night, and the lopsided final score belied the fact that it was a two-point game at the half, but the most important games, the conference ones, are still coming up. In addition to Polson, Ronan has to face Libby and Columbia Falls and Bigfork to wrap up the season.

Hollow said the Chiefs' game plan against Polson will be similar to their strategy against them last month.

"Offensively, we don't need to change a lot. We scored 62 points against them the first time. Hopefully, we'll shoot the ball better this time around," he said.

Ronan will need to play their fast-paced game for them to be successful, he noted.

"We're going to try to set the tempo. They're going to try to get us to play their tempo, which is a patient style of offense where they make every possession count," Hollow said.

The problem for the Chiefs is matching up with Polson's big man, Zach Langston, Hollow said. While the Chiefs have some height, and speed, Langston brings both to the table, he noted.

"We have guys who are big enough, but don't have his speed, and we have guys with speed, who aren't as big. It's going to be a fun game for the kids, but hopefully not as much for the spectators," he said, referring to the overtime game during the teams' first meeting.

With a win over Polson, Ronan can get that first or second seed in the divisional tourney, and a first-round bye. It's one less game to play, but one less chance to lose to a team like Whitefish or Libby, that have proved they can beat teams with better records.

"In our conference, that seeding is important because of how competitive it is," Hollow said. "That's one less game you have to worry about losing."

Whitefish 11 22 19 14 - 66

Ronan 14 24 15 15 - 68

WHITEFISH — Matt Whitehead 4, Aaron Tkachyk 4, Shawn Watterud 19, Josh Bacher 2, Colt Idol 22, Jake Smith 4, David Fauntleroy 11.

RONAN — Moss Tanner 31, Mike Fisher 12, Ryan Hesselgesser 4, Makenzy Kelch 2, Jordan St. Claire 3, Eddie Ness 3, Nolan Harris 13.

Ronan 16 6 22 23 - 67

Valley Ch. 13 12 16 - 48

RONAN — Moss Tanner 27, Mike Fisher 6, Nolan Harris 19, Makenzy Kelch 4, Jordan St. Clair 4, Mike Lee 5, Eddie Ness 2.

VALLEY CHRISTIAN — Morgan Parsons 15, Broc Roberts 4, Stephen Kasun 12, Hans Lange 8, Cody Parsons 5, Grayson Leder 2, Ben Kesler 2.