Lady Pirates fall just short in divisional-tournament thriller

A spirited effort by the Polson Lady Pirates fell just short as the Lady Pirates were defeated by the No. 3-ranked Frenchtown Lady Broncs 40-35 in the Northwestern A Divisional Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night.

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COLUMBIA FALLS - A spirited effort by the Polson Lady Pirates fell just short as the Lady Pirates were defeated by the No. 3-ranked Frenchtown Lady Broncs 40-35 in the Northwestern A Divisional Tournament Championship Game on Saturday night.

Riley Kenney kept her phenomenal season going with team-highs of 19 points and seven rebounds, Heidi Rausch added four points and six boards and Mariah Hamel scored five points for Polson, who shook off a rough second quarter to challenge one of the state’s top teams and nearly avenge their only two conference losses of the season.

Kenney scored six points in the opening eight minutes, as the Lady Pirates took an 11-7 lead after the first quarter. The second belonged to Frenchtown, however, who outscored Polson 16-3 to take a 23-14 halftime edge.

The Lady Pirates continued to fight and chipped away during the third to get within 31-26 entering the final stanza.

From there, Polson continued to try to climb the mountain. The Lady Broncs built their lead to seven, the Lady Pirates cut it to three. Frenchtown responded, Polson battled back. When the Lady Broncs made it a five-point game, things looked bleak, but the Lady Pirates responded with a free throw and a bucket to cut the deficit to two at 37-35 with 1:12 left.

After a free throw for Frenchtown, Polson turned the ball over, but Kenney came up with a tie-up with the possession arrow favoring the Lady Pirates to regain possession.

Polson then turned the ball over again, but the defense forced one just a second later to give them another chance.

With just 26 seconds left, the Lady Pirates were called for an illegal screen, but the defense wouldn’t be denied, forcing another turnover with 17 seconds left to give Polson one last chance.

The ball moved around before settling in the hands of Macall Banner, who just missed the tying three-pointer with four seconds left. Frenchtown would nab the rebound and hit two free throws to ice the win.

Despite the loss, the Lady Pirates will head to Butte in two weeks for the state tournament where they look to make noise as one of the state’s top teams.

Saturday, Feb. 25

Frenchtown 40, Polson 35

Polson – 11 – 3 – 12 – 9 – 35

Frenchtown – 7 – 16 – 8 – 9 – 40

Polson scoring: Riley Kenney 19, Mariah Hamel 5, Heidi Rausch 4, Anna DiGiallonardo 4, Hallie Hovenkotter 2, Mackenzie Banner 1