WEB EXTRA Ronan, SKC and Two Eagle River basketball updates

-RONAN BASKETBALL-

RONAN — The Ronan Chiefs took a 71-61 win at Bigfork on Friday, then took another huge conference win by a score of 58-38 when the Chiefs hosted Libby for senior night.

At Bigfork, Chiefs head coach Steve Woll said things turned into battle of fouls, with Bigfork shooting 11-36 and Ronan going 17-28 at the free throw line. In a game that scrappy, anything can happen.

“We were just glad to get a conference win and get out of there,” Woll said.

Ronan seniors led the way in scoring. Mike Fisher finished with 19, Dallas Cordier had 15, Nolan Harris scored 11, and Kyle Hendrickx had nine points.  

The following night, Ronan honored its seniors with a night to remember - beating Libby by 20 points isn’t an every day occurrence.

Ronan took an 8-point lead in the first half. Libby’s scoring picked up quite a bit in the second but so did Ronan’s. The Chiefs added 12 points to their lead.

The Chiefs pretty much eliminated Libby’s second-chance points in the win – which had hurt the Chiefs the first time they played Libby, Woll said.

Mike Fisher and senior Eddie Ness each had 11 in the game.

The Chiefs have two conference games left in the regular season.

The Chiefs play at 7:30 p.m. today at Whitefish and at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Columbia Falls. 

If they win them both, they could finish high enough to get a first round bye in divisionals.

“It’s a wild and crazy year. It’s coming right down to the last game of the year to see who sits where,” Woll said.

Not as lucky as the boys, the Ronan Maidens finished with two losses this past week.

The Maidens fell 66-42 at Bigfork then couldn’t contain the Libby Loggers during senior night in Ronan when they again lost by a score of 62-38.

Playing Bigfork , the Maidens got behind early but made a big push in the fourth to win the period 18-16. It wasn’t enough to come back but the Ronan team did see some good shooting from some players.

Seniors Jordan Strozzi and Carli Starkel paced the team with scoring. Strozzi put up 15, which included an impressive four 3-point baskets. Starkel scored nine points and also led the Maidens with three assists.

Hosting Libby, the Maidens had their hands full. A lop-sided second and third quarter in favor of Libby made things hard on the Maidens but they still managed to win the fourth with a late scoring surge. The Maidens put up 18 in that period.

This time freshman Morgan Belgarde led in scoring with 12 points.

The Maidens play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Whitefish and at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Columbia Falls.

-SKC BASKETBALL-

WALLA WALLA — The Salish Kootenai College Lady Bison took second at the Walla Walla University Hoop Classic this past weekend. In three games, the team won in overtime, lost in regulation and won in regulation. And they did it with only six players.

The first game against Andrews University couldn’t be settled in regulation. SKC let an early 21-point lead slip away from them and disappear completely near the end of the fourth. But SKC center Carla McLean answered back with a difficult reverse layup to tie the game back up with 1.4 seconds remaining.

Although Andrews had three girls at McLean’s height, McLean continued to produce points and SKC led the entire OT period to finish with the 86-80 win. 

McLean finished with a staggering 36 points and Dani Augare had 25. Augare played every minute of every game at the tournament and McLean played all but seven minutes.

Against Walla Walla, SKC fell 67-66.

Although his team played well on the defensive end, SKC head coach Juan Perez said the Lady Bison would have had a better shot at the win if some of his five or so absent girls had been on the court. Most stayed home for school or personal manners, Perez said.

This time Augare led with 23 points and McLean had 21.

SKC turned it on to beat Northwest Indian College 72-56 for its second win of the tourney.

McLean had 24 and Augare finished with seven.

Perez said he is in the process of scheduling a scrimmage for his team in the upcoming weeks.

The SKC men did not play last week.

-TWO EAGLE RIVER BASKETBALL-

PABLO — The Two Eagle River basketball teams had a full schedule this past weekend with both the boys and girls teams playing back-to-back-to-back games, the first pair on the road. In tough games at Noxon, at Valley Christian and hosting Hot Springs, neither Two Eagle squad was able to pull out a win.

The boys started out with a 63-41 loss to Noxon on Thursday where Two Eagle River’s Nate Drennan managed to drop enough to finish with 19 points. But the rest of the Two Eagle team was a little cold when Noxon was hot, Eagles’ head coach Jami Hanson said. 

“Noxon, they were hitting everything they shot and we weren’t hitting much,” he said.

The following night at Valley Christian, the Eagles got down early and stayed down, Hanson said. They lost 90-58.

“But I commend them for battling through it,” Hanson said, adding his team kept working throughout.

Lastly, the Eagles hosted Hot Springs for senior night.

“We played a pretty good first half,” Hanson said.

After down by just a little at the break, the boys ended up losing 53-34. Hanson had the opportunity get his JV seniors in the varsity game and said he was impressed with the way they played.

“I gave the kids that opportunity and they did well,” Hanson said, “I was proud of them. They didn’t quit.”

The boys play against Hot Springs at 4 p.m. today at the 14-C District Tournament at the Ronan Event Center. 

They need to win to have a shot at continuing to divisonals.

The Lady Eagles also took three losses.

They lost their first 70-30 at Noxon.

Jaylen Carpentier drained 17 but the rest of the Lady Eagles just couldn’t find their stroke.

The following evening the team lost 81-38 at Valley Christian. Big scoring by Valley Christian made things tough on the Lady Eagles but Tashina Malatare pulled a good game out just the same, scoring a team-leading 13 points in the loss.

Finally, the Lady Eagles lost a steep one to Hot Springs at home on Saturday. 

Adele Frost led with nine points.

The Lady Eagles will have to really work to sprint back on defense and use their inside game to make a push in districts, Two Eagle River head coach Mark Shackelford said.

The Lady Eagles play against Superior at 2 p.m. today at the 14-C District Tournament at the Ronan Event Center.