PIRATES GO UNDEFEATED

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| March 1, 2012 10:30 AM

MISSOULA — The Polson seventh grade AAU squad keeps getting tough competition in tournaments and they keep coming out on top. Last weekend at the Missoula AAU Tournament, the Pirates went 3-0 in their bracket against AA schools and improved their season record to 5-2 on the year.

“They just played so hard,” Coach Pete Hamper said. “If there was a loose ball on the floor, there was a purple jersey on it. I can’t complain one bit about their effort.”

In its first game of the weekend, Polson had to weather an insane three-point barrage after taking a large first-half lead. Against the Missoula Fury, the Pirates took a 24-6 halftime advantage but the Fury found their shooting stroke in the second half and hit eight three-pointers.

“They made one at the buzzer of the third quarter and then one at the end of the game that made it a four-point game,” Hamper said.

Polson won 45-41, after the Fury had notched 35 points in the second half.

“We just kept running our offense. The problem was when we scored two points, they would score three,” Hamper said. “That was crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that and I’ve coached for 40 years. I give our kids a lot of credit, they ran our offense.”

The Pirates followed that up with a 50-38 over the Kalispell Glacier Ice in their second game of the tournament.

“They were a real physical team,” Hamper said. “I think we played our best game of the year. We led most of the game but the lead was under 10 points. It was competitive and the kids held together.”

Polson only had six turnovers in the game and kept the mistakes to a minimum all weekend.

Their offense was much improved from two weekends ago in Butte, a tournament where they averaged 31 points a game. In Missoula, they averaged 44 points a game. For their last game of the tournament, Polson took on the Kalispell Kings, a team with two kids over 6’0. The Pirates built a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter before winning 36-31.

“Our kids are just so competitive no matter what school they’re playing, you have eight young men out there representing Polson and giving 120 percent,” Hamper said.

Since this particular roster of kids has been together, they’ve compiled a 16-4 record. Polson will now head up to the state capital this weekend for the Helena Swish tournament. The Pirates will be hosting a home tournament on March 10 and anyone wanting more information can call Hamper at 406-883-5100. Anyone wishing to help the team with donations and sponsorships for tournament fees, they can contact Hamper or send mail to Polson Seventh Grade AAU Basketball P.O. Box 609, Polson, MT.