Pirates standing up to the competition
The Polson Pirates 6th grade AAU team includes Tim Russell, Chase Murrin, Cabe Forman-Webster, J’von McPhail, Marquise Askan, Noah McDonald, Matthew Rensvold, Tanner Wilson, Colin Kenney, Anthony Storro, Josh Kinzler, Matt Sitter, and Bryce Leibengoth. The head coach is Pete Hamper, with assistant coaches Mark Russell and Eric Rensvold.
POLSON - The Polson Pirates 6th grade AAU boys basketball team
continues to roll as they've won eight in a row and have had good
showings at two area tournaments.
POLSON - The Polson Pirates 6th grade AAU boys basketball team continues to roll as they've won eight in a row and have had good showings at two area tournaments.
Two weeks ago at the Kalispell Hoopfest tournament, the Pirates won the consolation bracket, capping it off with a 40-23 victory over Flathead Glacier Ice in the consolation championship game. After losing their first two games, the Pirates were able to bounce back and win three straight for their consolation medals.
That momentum continued into last weekend at the Whitefish Pepsi Basketball Tournament as the Pirates took first by going 5-0.
They beat Libby 39-15 in the first game, and then avenged a 15-point loss to the Flathead Kings of Kalispell by beating them 48-30. Then Polson capped off the day with a 38-29 victory over Whitefish.
On Saturday, the Pirates downed the Flathead Glacier Ice 41-30 to get into the championship game and then beat the Flathead Flash for first place, 44-39.
"It was like a prize fight," Polson head coach Pete Hamper said.
In the championship game, Flathead was ahead by two at halftime, and while Polson had the lead, it never got any bigger than seven. The Pirates ran a pick and roll for a layup to get the five-point lead with 20 seconds to go and the kids knew they had just won the championship.
"They just exploded," Hamper said.
Polson, a team that just started playing two months ago, has been pitted against established teams that have been together for years.
They've also played against AAU teams that can draw from a larger pool of kids.
"They have a lot bigger area," Hamper said. "They draw 30 kids from 40,000 and we draw 10 from 4,000."
The secret to the Pirates' success? Defense and rebounding.
Hamper said his team takes pride in holding teams under 30 points.
"They just work their butts off," Hamper said. "They're really competitive kids."
At 12-5, Polson will play in a tournament in Missoula this weekend and then in Ronan two weeks from now.