Pirates just beat Chiefs

In a weekend for the books, the Pirates knocked off Ronan 50-48 on Friday and then Columbia Falls 62-60. The pair of two-point home wins set the Pirates at the top of the Northwestern-A conference with a 3-0 record.

The Chiefs lost two over the weekend, starting with the stinging defeat at Polson and then a 57-44 loss at Libby.

The game at Polson came down to a single shot. After a comeback orchestrated by Chief senior Dallas Cordier and rest of the Chiefs put them down two and on the verge with seconds remaining, Ronan sophomore Justin Dustybull had one more chance to make it Ronan’s night.

Sprinting to get in range as the last seconds expired, Dustybull let a three-point shot fly that wouldn’t have tied it, but won the game for the Chiefs.

The shot was lined up and on course despite the fact Dustybull had faded away towards the baseline in his desperation to get it off.

A bounce of the inside of the rim and out, the ball couldn’t find its way home, and the hometown team’s win was saved.

The game came down to a lot more than the shot, but it was a bonus for fans and could have been quite the moment for Dustybull, Ronan head coach Steve Woll said.

“I was hoping it had a chance,” Woll said. “I thought boy what a great thing that would be for sophomore to make a shot like that in a game like that.”

It was the Pirate’s night instead.

The Pirates clutched more than a big conference win on Friday - they also beat their rival, and it took every last minute of game play in the tight-packed Linderman gym to do it.

“It was one of the situations where it was nip and tuck the whole time. We opened up a couple of times with nine-point leads, and then they closed the gap quite a bit,” Polson head coach Karl Tait said.

The game started out tight - it wasn’t a big point game. It was a defensive battle and a hustle match. After one period, things were neck and neck, but in the second Polson pulled away to take a 24-18 lead going into the half.

By then, Tait and his Pirates had a sense of what the Chiefs were all about.

“We hadn’t played them yet so I didn’t know what to expect. You have to feel things out the first time around,” Tait said.

From the beginning, the Pirates targeted the Chiefs’ usual top producers.

“We knew going in we had to stop Harris and Fisher,” Tait said.

In the second half Polson saw different Ronan players take charge and it became clear, the Pirates would have to answer with some strong individual performances of their own.

The consistent scorers were sophomore Kyle Bagnell, senior Waylon Michel, and junior Tim Rausch. The ace in the hole was senior Ryan Kelley.

In the third, the Pirates started things off right with a basket from senior Craig Bagnell but a couple three pointers on behalf of the Chiefs’ moved momentum to Ronan’s side.

Kyle put up a three of his own with three minutes remaining to balance things out but Ronan answered in a big way at the end of the third.

With just 16 seconds left, the Pirates gave up a three to Ronan senior Dallas Cordier and then fumbled the ball to Cordier again in a last second drive. Cordier’s layup in the closing won the period 15-12 in favor of the Chiefs, and closed Polson’s lead to three points.

“Cordier ended up being more of an outside shooter than I thought,” Tait said.

The floor had been a battlefield through three but turned into a war zone in the fourth.

Kyle started things off right for the Pirates with a jumper right off the bat to expand the lead.

A long Ronan possession was the next highlight. Working it in the zone, The Chiefs finally found senior Kyle Hendrickx on the outside for an open three.

The score was 40-38 and the Pirates lead was back down to a single shot.

Again, Kyle Bagnell was the one to answer, but a couple baskets and things had turned around. With 4:30 left in the game, Ronan had taken its first lead since the first quarter, but only a 1-point lead.

The dynamic duo that helped take Polson’s football team to the playoffs in the fall said, “no.”

Craig found Rausch on a quick cut to the inside for a layup and the lead.

Again, Kyle scored to give the Pirates the three-point advantage.

Rausch put up another one, but Cordier and the Chiefs wouldn’t back down. Two baskets and five Chief points tied things right back up at 48.

After a Ronan time-out, a swat by Kelley halted the Chiefs attack. As the Pirates pulled up to half court the ball found its way into the hands of Kelley again.

There were 34 seconds remaining and it was anybody’s game.

Kelley crossed right into two-point territory then zagged to the middle as he released. The ball found its mark and Polson had enough points for the win.

Dustybull’s attempt was Ronan’s last chance and he missed.

Kyle said the rivalry game stood up to its reputation.

“It was intense,” he said. “Playing Ronan is always a good game. I can’t wait until next to play them.”

Michel said he likes competing against his buddies from Ronan in front of the big crowd.

“There’s always a lot of people at this game,” he said. “I played with them in eight grade, seventh grade and in the summer,” he said.

Kyle led in points with 15. Michel and Rausch each had eleven, and Kelley finished with six. Sophomore Sheldon Fisher stepped up from JV to put away five and Craig had two

The next night, Polson managed to win even a bigger one against Columbia Falls when

Kyle and Kelley each sunk 14. Fisher had ten, Rausch scored nine, Michel had 6, sophomore Louis Mohr had four, Craig had three, and junior Derrick Rathe had two.

After the loss, Ronan senior Nolan Harris had one word to describe it.

“Frustration,” he said.

He added that his team was still adjusting to their new systems.

“We just need to execute better,” he said. “It’s hard with a new coach with new systems. It won’t just click right away.”

Cordier shared Harris’ frustration, having a highlight game in front of plenty of people but ending it on a sour note when the score didn’t finish in his team’s favor.

He was happy it was close.

“For it to be that close was really good,” he said. “But we needed that win for the conference.”

A conference loss makes things worse, and like Harris, he said his team had trouble executing. Cordier said Polson slowed them down and met their part of the bargain.

“No knock on those guys,” he said, “They played a great game.”

Cordier finished with 13, senior Kyle Hendrickx made 11, Harris had 10 senior Eddie Ness had six, senior Mike Fisher scored five, and Dustybull had three.

The Chiefs lost the following night in Libby when the Loggers put together bid second and fourth quarters to pull ahead. Fisher and Harris in scoring with 10 points each.

The Chiefs host Columbia Falls at 6 p.m. on Friday and Bigfork at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Polson hosts Eureka at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and plays at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Libby.