Pirates secure second

POLSON — The Polson boys’ basketball team solidified its second-place spot in the conference after a pair of wins last week.

In a non-conference match-up against Eureka, the Pirates ran to a 49-26 lead at the half, with the help from a 27-point second quarter.

“It went really well,” head coach Brad Pluff said.

Junior Kyle Bagnell tallied 29 points and Louis Mohr added 26 in the 90-56 win.

“Louis had a career night,” Pluff said. “When [Bagnell and Mohr] are on, its great.”

Polson’s defense was the key in the win, Pluff said.

“We got a lot of points with our defense and transition game, getting the ball,” he said.

Two nights later, sophomore Tyler Krell took over scoring, leading with 12, in the 59-34 win over Libby that secured the Pirate’s spot in the conference.

“We were happy to get the win,” Pluff said.

Sophomore Vince DiGiallonardo had 11 and Bagnell added 10 in a balanced team effort.

“If you can hold a team to under 40 points, that’s all you can ask for,” Pluff said.

The Pirates host conference-leader and No. 2 ranked Columbia Falls on Thursday and Ronan on Saturday in the last week of regular season action before the divisional tournament Feb. 26-27 in Kalispell.

Pluff said Columbia Falls hasn’t won in Polson in four or five years.

“I’m sure they’ll try to get that monkey off their back,” he said.

In order to win, Pluff said the Pirates will emphasize strong defense, like they showed in the last couple weeks.

“If we play good defense, we have enough offense to take care of business,” he said. “We just need to play defense.”