Pirates dominate home tourney

POLSON — The Polson Pirates Purple team hit the 10-win mark of their season thanks to an undefeated weekend at their home tournament. It came exactly when Polson needed it the most after losing its starting point guard to a wrist injury.

“It was a plus for us,” coach Pete Hamper said. “It gave us a chance to have one of our players get adjusted to the point guard position and another player get three games of starting experience.”

POLSON — The Polson Pirates Purple team hit the 10-win mark of their season thanks to an undefeated weekend at their home tournament. It came exactly when Polson needed it the most after losing its starting point guard to a wrist injury.

“It was a plus for us,” coach Pete Hamper said. “It gave us a chance to have one of our players get adjusted to the point guard position and another player get three games of starting experience.”

Polson won its first game of the tournament against a Mission team mixed with seventh and eighth graders by an impressive score of 43-17. While the players were at first a little in awe of the eighth graders, Hamper said they adjusted well out on the court.

“When we played in those bigger tournaments and faced teams like Great Falls with taller kids, it helped us,” Hamper said. “Psychologically, our kids realized they just have to play team defense and block out.”

Hamper also credited the length of time his team has played together — 27 games over two years — with helping them get past a tough Mission team.

They followed that up with a 47-11 victory over Lolo Creek, a feeder school for AA Missoula schools and then won a Mission Valley rivalry game against Ronan by the same score, 47-11.

“Lolo and Ronan are really organized,” Hamper said. “They threw different defenses at us. Lolo ran a half-court trap which we haven’t seen since Butte and it gave us a chance to react to it. Ronan played zone and that was the second time we’ve seen that defense.”

Now at 10-4, the Pirates enjoyed their home tournament as did their fans and parents.

“There were a lot of teams and people complimenting on how we played at Linderman,” Hamper said. “Most of the time for these AAU tournaments you get put in a side gym. I think that this is exactly what we should do in Polson with AAU. I saw nothing but sportsmanship and competitiveness.”

Hamper wanted to thank Polson Athletic Director Scott Wilson for allowing access to Linderman for the tournament and for practices during the season. Polson will head to Kalispell this weekend for a tournament where they’ll start off against a very good Tenacious D team. Made up of all-stars from Bigfork and Kalispell, TD will bring size to the court. Then the Purple team will play the Kalispell Kings, a team that Polson previously defeated by four this season, and Libby.The Pirates will then play in the Ronan AAU Tournament two weeks from now.

POLSON WHITE TEAM WRAPS UP SEASON

The Polson Pirates White team picked up a victory over Frenchtown and played a close battle with Lolo Creek in the Polson AAU Tournament this Saturday.

The Pirates defeated future Northwestern A conference rival Frenchtown 31-29 in their first game of the tournament and then lost to Lolo Creek 33-32.

“The last two games they played were decided by one and two points,” coach Michael Sitter said. “They learned about zone defense, many different offensive plays and a lot about basketball in general. I feel fortunate to have had the privilege to work with them. They’re a good bunch.”

Polson had a six-point lead late in the Lolo Creek game, and the Lumberjacks needed an inbounds pass with two seconds left to get by them. Polson wraps up its season after battling through a lot of adversity. The kids never let up during the year and it showed out on the court.

“We started with eight players and one player broke his arm and two others elected to devote their energies to wrestling,” Sitter said. "This was followed by another player dislocating his shoulder. I was wondering if we would even be able to field a team, so I recruited a fifth grader and sixth grader to our team.”

The new recruits provided an excellent boost on the roster.

“They were happy to play up,” Sitter said. “The fifth grader was more often than not our leading scorer and the sixth grader was our leading rebounder. They both played very hard and seemed unintimidated.”

Polson was no stranger to playing close, thrilling games. They traveled to Missoula and Kalispell for tournaments before their home tournament in Polson.

“We lost more than we won but the important part was the game experience for these boys who would either not play or be lucky to get a few minutes of playing time on another team,” Sitter said. “Three of our losses were by five points or less.”

Several players stood out for the Pirates during the year.

“The goal of this team was to get better every game and every practice and they really did that,” Sitter said. “I’d have to say that Josh Kinzle was the most improved player. His ferocity grew as the season progressed. J.B., our point guard, is simply one of the most unselfish point guards I’ve ever coached. He took on a tough position and never complained.”

With so many kids showing interest in basketball this year, it looks like hoops in Polson has a bright future.