Pirates make final game, but cant get to state

KALISPELL — It was a weekend of ups and downs for the Polson Pirate boys.

The Pirates first earned a berth in the championship game by avenging losses to Bigfork and Libby during the Western Class-A Divisional, but afterward fell in the championship to Columbia Falls, before suffering a painfully narrow challenge loss to Whitefish, which knocked them out of state contention.

The rise and fall of the Pirates took place at Glacier High School in Kalispell.

“It was kind of a bittersweet thing to get into the championship game after losing our last two conference games,” Polson head coach Karl Tait explained. “We were pretty excited about getting into the championship then we ran into a buzz saw with Libby and then Whitefish in the final game.”

Coming off a low end to the regular season with losses to Columbia Falls and Bigfork, Polson’s early tournament success seemed above statistical expectations.

It all started last Thursday with Bigfork.

After giving Bigfork its first conference win last week, Polson remembered what had been the deciding factor, and corrected its game. Rebounding was that niche – Bigfork had mashed the Pirates on the glass last time they met.

“We had the margin of rebounds down to a lot less,” Tait said. “We narrowed that and stayed on the boards with them quite well and I think that was the difference in the game.”

Polson sophomore Kyle Bagnell led his team in the win with 15 points. Senior Waylon Michel came up with 12 and sophomore Louis Mohr had nine.

Tait pinpointed the match as one of point guard Michel’s finest.

“Waylon had one of his better games,” Tait said. “He was pretty consistent all the way through.”

If Bigfork had the potential to give the Pirates trouble then Libby certainly did too.

The Loggers had beat the Pirates twice in regular season, including a recent whomping in Polson on senior night.

Come tournament time, the Pirates got the Loggers much worse, however.

It was a very evenly played game, but Polson came out on top 50-43, banishing the Loggers to a loser-out game against Ronan and advancing to the Divisional championship game.

Tait said it all came down to defense.

It also came down to the bitter end. With 20 seconds left, the Pirates were down 34-33 and junior Tim Rausch got himself to the line. Two buckets and the Pirates had the lead.

A miss on the front end of a 1-1 free throw opportunity by Libby’s best shooter from the line left the score in Polson’s favor.

Mohr led with nine points, Rausch had eight, Kyle had seven and senior Craig Bagnell had five for the Pirates.

Come championship game time, Polson wasn’t so lucky.

On a rage, Columbia Falls had completed an upset of Whitefish to earn their championship appearance. This time it was Polson who had won both regular season meetings and it was Polson who would give one up the first place seed to state.

The Wildcats won 64-45. Columbia Falls had a lot going for them. They were playing for their head coaches’ ill brother. They had the confidence of a team that was going to state regardless of the outcome since they had already downed Whitefish, the potential challenge.

And finally they just couldn’t miss.

“When you have that much enthusiasm going and intensity and you shoot 61 percent on top of that, it’s pretty hard to beat a team,” Tait said.

Polson’s top scorers were Rausch with 15, Kyle with 11 and Michel with 10.

And then there was Whitefish. It was a team armed with two of the league’s best in Colt Idol and Aaron Tkaychk, which hadn’t lost much. But Polson knew they could beat the Bulldogs - it had happened to start the season.

Polson contained the two top bad guys to 11 combined points and kept the total score down low. It was a Pirate paced game. But in the end, after the Pirates missed a layup and a 3-point shot that would have gained the lead, Whitefish came out on top 45-41.

It was a well played game on both ends, but one team is going to state and one team not. No matter the run the Pirates went on to get there, it was rough a loss as they come.

The Polson seniors did their last game justice, Craig and Ryan Kelley splitting the team scoring title with 10 a piece.

“Our seniors did a nice job in that game,” Tait said. “I will hand it to them. They played about as well as they have all year.”