Pirates so close, but yet so far

RONAN – The Polson Pirates faced long odds in the Northwestern A divisional tournament this weekend in Ronan.  With their proverbial backs against the basket, the Pirates pulled out a dramatic win over rival Libby 47-40, but in a couragous effort against Columbia Falls coupled with a loss to Whitefish sent the Pirates packing.  

In the Pirates’ first-round match-up they faced the Libby Loggers, the third time this season the two teams faced.  In their first meeting, Libby’s Jared Winslow’s bucket at the buzzar lifted the Loggers past Polson 48-47.  In their second meeting, the Pirates Riley Sampson led the charge with 19 points and the Pirates’ pulled the season series even with a 54-44 win in Polson.  

Which brings us to Thursday’s match-up between the Loggers and Pirates, with the winner inching their way closer to an improable divisional tournament run.  The back and fourth contest was especially highlighted by the quality play of both the Loggers’ Winslow and the Pirates’ Will Davey.  The two guards frequently traded baskets and demonstrated an unmatched effort on both ends of the floor.

Polson held on to a slight 34-32 advantage heading into the fourth, but the Pirates clamped down defensively and held the Loggers to just eight fourth quarter points, securing the 47-40 win.  

“We had a good game plan going in and I thought we executed it fairly well,” said Pirates head coach Brad Pluff.  “Our biggest issue all year have been turnovers and I think we only turned the ball over eight times [against Libby.]”

Protecting the ball helps the Pirates slow the game down and gets them into their half-court sets, where they can feed the ball to their leading scorer Sampson.  The defensive oriented Pirates have to rely on a slow paced game with fewer offensive possessions for both teams in order to be successful.  

Both Cedric Smith and Riley Sampson – who played his first game after returning from an ankle injury - scored nine for the Pirates and Davey led the way with 16.  Davey’s work on the defensive end, where he stole three passes and deflected many others, brought a mosquito-like annoyance to the Loggers leading scorer Winslow all night.  Davey’s hard work and pestering defense was conducive to the Pirates game plan.

In games against Libby and their next game, Friday against Columbia Falls, the Pirates were sticking to the plan and playing their tempo of basketball.  So well in fact, unexpectedly, Polson found themselves in one heck of a ball game in the second half against the Wildcats.  The Pirates – who lost by just 11 points in their last meeting with Columbia Falls on Valentines day – was in another competitive contest against the districts’ No. 1 team.

Both offenses were stagnant during the first quarter, but picked up in the second as the Wildcats took a 22-21 lead into the half.  Coming out of the break, the Pirates continued to stay with the Wildcats, answering every time it looked like the Wildcats were pulling away.  Punctuated by two 3-pointers from the wing by Hayden Congdon and a Smith steal ending with harm and a hoop cut Columbia Falls lead to just three.    But unfortunately, what has turned into a defining theme in Polson Pirates basketball this year, turnovers and free throw shooting reared its ugly head late in the third quarter against the Wildcats.  Three back-to-back-to-back turnovers turned into seven easy transition points for Columbia Falls and the Pirates found themselves quickly in a hole they knew they had to stay out of.  Trapping the ball handler once he ventured cross-court, the Wildcats were quick to suffocate Polson ball handlers, subjecting the Pirates into errant passes.  

“We knew turning the ball over would be crucial [in the Columbia Falls game,] said Coach Pluff.  “[Columbia Falls] didn’t do anything new, we knew going into the game what they’re going to do, we just didn’t execute.  [In the third] we dug ourselves in a hole and our team is not built to come back from big leads.”  

The Wildcats pushed the lead to 39-30 going into the fourth and the Pirates’ limited offensive weapons couldn’t find enough buckets to battle back and lost 50-40.  Again the Pirates didn’t do themselves any favors at the free throw line, shooting a respectable 10 for 17, but some of those misses came late in the third and at a crucial juncture in the game.

Smith scored 14 for the Pirates, Congdon had 11 and Sampson had seven points and four rebounds.  

The Columbia Falls loss was devastating to Polson’s tournament chances, but they could stay alive with a win against Whitefish on Saturday.  The Bulldogs were coming off a win against Libby earlier that day and the Pirates were hoping to exploit their fatigue.  But the loss to Columbia Falls turned out to be more detrimental to the Pirates than just a check in the loss column.  Whether it was emotionally or physically, the Pirates were wounded.

“Our energy wasn’t there,” said Coach Pluff.  “We looked like we were a tired team with no energy.”  

The 59-40 loss to Whitefish was a sour end to a disappointing Polson Pirates season.  Blessed with talent in several positions, the Pirates struggled to execute late in games and continuously self-inflected wounds through missed free throws and turnovers which plagued the Pirates all season.  

There were plenty of things Polson did right on the court, but their mistakes heavily outweighed their pros.  

“Our defense and rebounding got better throughout the year,” said Coach Pluff.  “We just didn’t do enough things offensively to win ball games.”  

The Pirates ended their year 7-14.