Pirate update

EUREKA — The Polson Pirates overcame, but the Lady Pirates fell to the Eureka Lions this past Saturday.

The Pirates out-scored Eureka 49-40 with sophomore Kyle Bagnell shooting away for 23 in the Lion’s den.

Kyle’s a scorer and he made the baskets his team needed for the win.

The same could be said for the points of his teammates. Senior Waylon Michel came up second with 11 in the win, and according to Polson head coach Karl Tait, Michel did a lot more to help the Pirates take the win.

Covering all of the responsibilities a point guard has to in order to help his team succeed, Michel helped keep a 13-5 second quarter lead and a 21-12 half-time advantage alive and kicking when Eureka turned it on late.

All game, Michel kept the ball moving and in the Pirate’s control, but when it came down to the end, he also shot perfectly from the free throw line.

Shooting five for five free throws when Eureka turned to fouling at the end of the game, Michel iced the win that  Kyle started.

Senior Ryan Kelley took his lead, making both of his free throw attempts from the line in the fourth.

It was enough to get the win.

Polson’s bench also performed well, especially on the defensive end, Tait said.

“I want to commend them for that,” he said.

The Polson boys played at Bigfork on Tuesday and host Libby on Saturday at 6 p.m.

At Eureka, the Lady Pirates lost a slim one when a strong first three quarters evaporated into a 12-4 fourth in favor of Eureka. Eureka took the 44-43 win when all was over. 

“We put some pressure on them in the third, outscored them by eight in the third them went dry after that,” head coach Randy Kelley said.

After his team put up solid numbers early, they lost some intensity, Randy said.

“We were kind of hanging around playing not to lose the game instead of win,” Randy said.

His team also suffered on the boards with the absence of inside presence senior Sarah Newton who was out sick, Randy said.

Senior Sierra Pete stepped up her rebounding game to help out, pulling down 11 on the night, but it wasn’t enough to stop Eureka late.

Junior Staci Benson also had a strong night with four steals and five assists.

The Lady Pirates had one final attempt at the basket, in-bounding with three seconds left, but Polson junior Nicole Davey had her shot blocked and it was over.

Sophomore Breanne Kelley scored 15 to lead her team, senior Rochelle Woods had eight and freshman Riley Kenney and Pete each had six.

The Polson girls host Bigfork on Friday and host Libby at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The last two games, both in conference, could put the team as high as the two seed going into the divisional tournament depending on the performance of Polson and other teams in the conference. 

The Lady Pirates will play their second game in pink jerseys against Libby in support of cancer awareness.