Ronan begins divisionals

POLSON — The Ronan girls’ basketball team dropped its final regular-season game of the season to Polson last Saturday, 50-32.

“I thought we played a lot better,” head coach Doug Fisher said. “We competed with them.”

Ronan was down by seven after the first quarter and 14 after the third. Junior Jonna Grant led with 10 points.

“She played extremely well,” Fisher said. “When [junior Alice VanGunten] got into foul trouble, Grant had to do the brunt of the rebounding.”

Freshman Courtney Clairmont and sophomore Ashley Grandchamp each added six points.

“Ashley played well,” Fisher said. “Courtney did as well as a freshman. She’s starting to find out what she’s capable of.”

Ronan has improved from the beginning of the season to now, Fisher said.

“It’s like night and day,” he said. “We’ve had a tough season, no doubt, but [the team has] kept a positive attitude. They have kept their heads up.”

The Maidens look ahead to the Northwestern A divisional tournament in Kalispell this weekend.

Many of the other teams have experience on the court, something Ronan is a little short on with no seniors on the roster.

“You can’t coach experience,” Fisher said.

 Entering as the fifth seed, Ronan will face Whitefish at 6 p.m. tonight. Ronan won its only game of the season against Whitefish.

“That’s a game we can win,” Fisher said.

In the first game of 2010, Ronan beat Whitefish by 10 points only to fall to them two weeks ago by eight. In the loss, Ronan missed six shots in a row, five feet from the basket heading into the half. Fisher said the keys this time will be getting good looks, making shots and playing strong defense.

“Our defense right now is playing as well as anybody,” he said.

The winner will move on to face top-seeded Columbia Falls.

“If you get that first win, you never know what can happen,” Fisher said.