GB: Lady Pirates look strong at divisional tournament

COLUMBIA FALLS — There are several reasons that the Polson girls basketball team (16-4) is ranked No. 4 in the state, and it showed those reasons against No. 3-ranked Frenchtown last Saturday night. The team came up just short, 40-35 in the Northwestern A Divisional Tournament Championship Game.

COLUMBIA FALLS — There are several reasons that the Polson girls basketball team (16-4) is ranked No. 4 in the state, and it showed those reasons against No. 3-ranked Frenchtown last Saturday night. The team came up just short, 40-35 in the Northwestern A Divisional Tournament Championship Game.

The Lady Pirates will get another chance to showcase their talents with the No. 2 seed from the NWA at the Class A State Tournament March 8-10.

Relentless defense? Check.

Anna DiGiallonardo, despite giving up a foot in height, kept Frenchtown star Sarah Lester in check the entire game. Lester was held to just 12 points even though she’s the conference’s second-leading scorer. The Lady Broncs were held to their third-lowest point total of the season, with 14-5 Stevensville being the only other team that did a better job keeping Frenchtown off the scoreboard.

Efficient offense? Check.

Riley Kenney, the Northwestern A conference’s leading scorer, led the team in the championship game with 19 points and has a whopping 388 points so far this season. Kenney’s so good on offense, she’s scored 118 more points than the conference’s second-leading scorer.

A mentality to win? Check.

Polson bounced back from the Valentine’s Day Massacre, a 61-36 loss to the Lady Broncs on Feb. 14, which gave them the second seed in the divisional tournament.

“We switched up our defense and we definitely played a lot of man,” Polson head coach Randy Kelley said. “You look at that Frenchtown loss and we didn’t play that well in the first half, but we won the second half. This time we lost just one quarter when we got into a scoring drought. Those are things that we are improving on. It was a big boost for our team’s confidence.”

The Lady Pirates could have very well won the game. With four seconds left in the championship bout, Polson was down by three points.

The game-tying three-pointer taken by Macall Banner was on target but just a smidge short, hitting front rim. Frenchtown got the rebound and hit both free throws to ice the victory.

“We set up that last shot for Riley in the corner, but Macall took the shot there with about four seconds left,” Kelley said to the Daily Inter Lake after the game. “It was a good shot, a good look. I’m proud of the girls. They worked their butts off.”

More than anything, Polson showed that the separation between the No. 3 ranking and No. 4 is zilch.

“I felt really good about how the girls did,” Kelley said. “It would have been easy to say ‘we’re going to state’ and be happy with that, but they didn’t do that.”

After defeating Columbia Falls on their home court Friday, 50-37, the Lady Pirates matched up in the championship game against the team that handed them their only two conference losses of the season.

That didn’t intimidate Polson in the slightest. 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, 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, but the Lady Pirates cut it back to three.

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 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 offense moved the ball around to Banner, whose last-moment shot could have forced overtime.

Kenney not only scored 19 points, but grabbed seven rebounds as well. Heidi Rausch proved to be a strong post presence, grabbing six boards and notching four points. Point guard and team general Mariah Hamel scored five points and impressed Kelley with her overall play this weekend.

“Mariah did a really good job dishing the ball, penetrating the defense and taking care of the ball,” Kelley said. “She also shot well.”

The Banner sisters, Macall and Mackenzie, continued their impression of the Mighty Ducks’ “Bash Brothers” on defense, while Rausch did work down low. In all, Kelley felt there was plenty of credit to go around the roster.

“I thought all the girls really stepped up,” he said. “I thought it was a good team effort.”

Polson 50, Columbia Falls 37

It wasn’t an easy semifinal matchup for the Lady Pirates by any stretch of the imagination. The last time Polson matched up against Columbia Falls in their gym on Jan. 7, the two battled to overtime where the Lady Pirates earned a slim 59-57 victory.

History didn’t repeat itself, thanks to a big third quarter by Polson. The Lady Pirates used that big stanza to pull away for the 50-37 victory on Friday night. The Lady Pirates completed the season sweep of the WildKats, who went ice-cold at the free throw line, shooting 5-for 20.

Polson, on the other hand, shot 70 percent and hit 16-of-23 shots. Mariah Hamel was a big reason for that, hitting 5-of-7 free throws and finishing the game with 13 points.

The Lady Pirates took a 12-8 lead in the first quarter and extended their lead by one point in the second quarter for a 23-18 halftime lead.

They made their move in the third quarter, and outscored Columbia Falls 14-7 for the 37-25 advantage going into the final period. In the fourth, Polson increased their lead by a point and clinched a berth in the championship game with the victory. Kenney led the team with 16 points and DiGiallonardo added 10.

After the Wildkats defeated Libby the next day, it clinched a state playoff berth for the Lady Pirates. It was a point not lost by the Columbia Falls fans who openly and enthusiastically rooted for Polson during the NWA Championship game. Had the Lady Pirates defeated Frenchtown, the Wildkats could have played the Lady Broncs in a challenge game with a berth in the state tournament on the line.

ON TO STATE

There’s plenty of good news for Polson fans. Not only will the Lady Pirates play in the Class A State Tournament March 8-10 in Butte, but their first round opponent is someone they’ve already faced this season.

And beaten.

At the Tip-off Tournament in Whitefish last December, Polson notched a 49-36 victory over Southwestern A Divisional Champion Dillon. The two will play one another on Thursday, March 8 at 2 p.m. in the Butte Civic Center.

“I like our matchup there,” Kelley said. “In our second game of the season we beat them. I feel really good with the bracket and where we are at.”

If the Lady Pirates were to pick up the victory, they would play the winner of the Havre-Billings Central matchup. Polson’s second game would take place Friday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m.

However, there is one thing that the Lady Pirates will have to overcome — the two-week wait before the state tournament that can sometimes slow down the momentum a team builds in the divisional tournament.

“It’s kind of tough,” Kelley said. “We’ll take it a bit easier early this week. We had to do the same thing two years ago. It’s just something we’ll have to deal with.”

And if last Saturday’s NWA Championship game is any indication, the Lady Pirates will certainly bring their A game against the state’s best squads.

POLSON VS F-TOWN

Polson - 11 - 3 - 12 - 9 - 35

F-town - 7 - 16 - 8 - 9 - 40

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

POLSON VS C-FALLS

Polson - 12 - 11 - 14 - 13 - 50

C-Falls - 8 - 10 - 7 - 12 - 37

Lady Pirates scoring - Mackenzie Banner 4, Macall Banner 5, Mariah Hamel 13, Anna DiGiallonardo 10, Riley Kenney 16, Jordan Quinn 2