Polson girls basketball: Playing through pain

MISSOULA - You'd think that a painful shoulder injury would slow

Riley Kenney down.

MISSOULA - You'd think that a painful shoulder injury would slow Riley Kenney down.

Not exactly.

After leaving Thursday's game against Big Sky, a 51-23 loss after reinjuring her shoulder, the junior rebounded in Saturday's conference opener against Whitefish.

"If it gets in the right spot it feels like it pops out," Polson head Randy Kelley said.

Against Whitefish, Kenney scored 12 points as the Lady Pirates (1-3) won their first game of the season 57-23.

"It's the best game she's had in the past few years," Kelley said. "She's battling through it."

The Lady Pirates showed they could execute their offense and operate in transition, both positive signs when working towards peaking at the end of the season.

"The victory is important," Kelley said. "The conference victory is more important."

The win was important to get Polson back on track after facing a Big Sky team on Thursday that wanted to get revenge for a 50-45 loss to the Lady Pirates last year.

"It gave us confidence," Kelley said of the win over Whitefish.

Kelley liked the good shots that were set up in the Big Sky game, but they just didn't drop for Polson. They certainly found their shots against Whitefish, scoring a season-high in points and playing great defense as the Lady Pirates blanked the Lady Bulldogs in the third quarter.

"We can't use the injuries as excuses," Kelley said. "We need to improve every week."

Senior Breanne Kelley led Polson in both games with 15 against Whitefish and seven against Big Sky. Kelley is currently third in the conference in scoring with 10.5 points per game.

Kenney is fifth with 8.25.

Behind the warrior Kenney and the talented Kelley, the Lady Pirates also saw some other standout performances.

"We got some great minutes from [sophomore guard] MacKenzie Banner," Kelley said. "She just works so hard on defense."

Jonna Hart has also proven to be instrumental for the Lady Pirates, leading the team in assists.

"We just got some girls that go out and work hard," Kelley said.

After their game against Stevensville, they'll get Christmas break to retool some things and heal up.

"We need the break right now to work on some things offensively and defensively," Kelley said.

The team will get back to work right after Christmas and if their Whitefish game is any indication, the rest of the Northwestern A Conference should get back to work too right away after opening their presents.