Charlo remains undefeated, Polson splits

While the Class C schools got their basketball season started last week in Frenchtown, the Class A and B schools had another week to prepare. Polson split on their opening games at the tournament in Missoula, Ronan lost both and Mission lost to Stillwater Christian in St. Ignatius. Charlo got their conference schedule going, as did Arlee.

Polson 30

Corvallis 34

On Friday, Polson started off their season in a game against Corvallis. A slow start would prove detrimental in the opening game of the season for the Lady Pirates, but Polson’s ultimate undoing would be a greater than 3:1 ratio disparity at the charity stripe as the Lady Pirates fell to Corvallis. Polson outscored the Lady Blue Devils in the second half, but were not able to manufacture enough momentum to close the gap further. Nichole Lake scored 11, including eight in a row in the fourth quarter, while guards Brenna Clarke and Lauren Lefthand collaborated on another 14 points. Erin Sampson tickled double digits with nine boards, while Brenna Clarke pilfered a trio of steals.

Corvallis- 11 8 7 8 – 34

Polson- 4 11 5 10 – 30

CORVALLIS – Penny Jessop 5 4-6 14, Corinne Sanderson 3 3-5 10, Kira Doyle 2 1-3 6, Taia Tully 2, Steffani Stoker 2.

POLSON – Nichole Lake 4 3-4 11, Brenna Clarke 3 0-1 7, Lauren Lefthand 3 0-0 7, Marlee Congdon 3, Erin Sampson 2.

Polson 46 Dillon 35

In Missoula on Saturday morning, the Lady Pirates rallied from a first quarter deficit to pull even with the Lady Beavers at intermission. In the second half, Polson continued to score in double figures per quarter while holding Dillon to single digits as they pulled away from a tough opponent. Lauren Lefthand and Nichole Lake combined for 30 points, Mollie Fisher and Brenna Clarke collaborated on a dozen boards while a quartet of Polson players rejected Dillon shot attempts with eight blocks. The game was the most productive offensive outing since the preceding season as Polson strung together four consecutive quarters of double digit scoring. Polson (1-1) will have already faced AA Kalispell Flathead Bravettes on Tuesday, then travel to engage defending State A champion Hamilton on Saturday before they recess for the Christmas break.

Polson 10 11 13 12 – 46

Dillon 17 4 9 5 – 35

DILLON – Alex Rouse 12, Brynley Fitzgerald 11, Bailey Berriochoa 4, Rachel Nye 3, Kylie Christiansen 3, Kathleen Tatarka 2.

POLSON – Lauren Lefthand 4 5-7 16, Nichole Lake 7 0-0 14, Brenna Clarke 2 0-0 5, MaKenna Weltz 1 1-4 4, Mollie Fisher 1 1-4 3, Kaelyn Smith 0 2-2 2, Haley Fyant 2.

Ronan 47 Libby 51

The Ronan girls started out their season against Libby. They pressed for most of the game, and in the first quarter, it was very successful. Unfortunately, Ronan was not capitalizing on the turnovers they were creating. In a very fast moving first quarter, Lee Camel hit two 3’s. The Maidens took a six point lead after one. In the second, Libby started breaking Ronan’s press, creating layup opportunities for them, and Ronan struggled to transition down the court. Libby cut down the Maiden lead to two points at half. The third quarter saw Ronan’s press and scrappy defense cause troubles for Libby, but Ronan’s guards got in some foul trouble from reffing that was very tight. Ronan was able to extend their lead to 37-32 after three. In the fourth, Libby made a comeback. A three-pointer by Lee Camel with four and a half minutes would put Ronan up 42-34, but that lead wouldn’t last long. Shortly after, Jordyn Clairmont fouled out, hurting their front three. Ronan struggled to contain Libby’s Jayden Winslow, who scored 23 points in Libby’s 51-47 win. Lee Camel led Ronan with 23, Micalann McCrea had 14, and Alicia Camel added seven.

Ronan- 22 5 10 10 – 47

Libby- 16 9 7 19 – 51

RONAN – Lee Camel 23, Alicia Camel 7, Jordyn Clairmont 2, Gabby Wirz 1, Micalann McCrea 14.

LIBBY – Ashley Walker 3, Trinity Wallace 4, Madison Monigodl 6, Jayden Winslow 23, Shannon Renny 13, Shelby McLinden 2.

Ronan 38

Frenchtown 54

On Saturday, Ronan took on Class A Frenchtown. In a close first half, neither team was able to take the lead. It wasn’t until the third quarter that Frenchtown got going behind Kylie Wilet’s 14 points. Frenchtown took a seven point lead into the fourth quarter and didn’t look back, outscoring the Maidens by nine points to win the game 54-38. Micalann McCrea led the scoring for the Maidens with 10 points. Lee Camel had a tough game, only managing to get eight shots off. Guard Sadie Wirz fouled out as well. Alicia Camel had eight points, and Loretta Conko-Camel and Lee Camel each had seven. Ronan hosted Eureka on Tuesday and will host Mission on Thusday.

Ronan- 9 11 7 11 – 38

Frenchtown- 10 10 14 20 – 54

RONAN – Micalann McCrea 10, Sadie Wirz 2, Gabby Wirz 3, Jordyn Clairmont 1, Loretta Conko-Camel 7, Alicia Camel 8, Lee Camel 7.

FRENCHTOWN – Meggie Delaney 7, Alivia Williams 6, Lexi Statelen 5, Kylie Willet 14, Alli Moe 8, Emilie Hinrichs 10, Allie Hochalter 4.

Mission 35

Stillwater 47

The St. Ignatius Bulldogs got their season started against Stillwater Christian this past Saturday. They got off to a bad start, managing only two points to Stillwater’s 15 in the first quarter. They were able to put some more shots up in the second, when they scored 15. At half, the score was 31-17. Mission started a comeback in the third, outscoring Stillwater by three, but they weren’t able to hold them, as the fourth quarter saw more points by Stillwater. Leading the Bulldogs in their first game was Bryar McCrea, who had 11 points. Jordyn Eichert had eight, and Sydney Castor added five.

S. Christian- 15 16 5 11 – 47

St. Ignatius- 2 15 8 10 – 35

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN– Rachelle Fisher 2, Serena Koch 14, Hailey Schwarz 2, Adrianna Lambert 5, Dory Smith 8, Alicia Warricks 10, Lulu Neumann 6.

ST. IGNATIUS – Sydney Castor 5, Bryar McCrea 11, Tianna Brown 3, Jordyn Eichert 8, Pam Anderson 4, Ran’Dee Charlo 4.

Charlo 42

Two Eagle 11

Charlo looked to keep their season perfect on Friday night against the 1-1 Eagles. In the first quarter, Charlo’s defense held TER to only three points, while scoring 16 themselves. Six different Charlo players scored in the first quarter alone, compared to Two Eagle’s one – Casadi Wunderlich. In the second it was more of the same, as the Eagles only managed two points to Charlo’s ten, six of which were free throws. In the second half, the depth of Charlo hurt the Eagles, who played with nine compared to Charlo’s 12. In the end, ten Charlo players scored, and the Vikings won 42-11 to capture their first conference game of the season. Cheyenne Nagy led the Vikings with nine, Skyler Frame added eight, and Tyrah Hammond had seven. Two Eagle was led by Misty Mendoza, who had four. Two Eagle River took on Hot Springs on Tuesday.

Charlo- 16 10 10 6 - 42

TER- 3 2 1 5 - 11

CHARLO- Cheyenne Nagy 9, Mikaylan Roylance 5, Kaitlin Cox 2, Brooklyn Foust 4, Teaira Truman 1, Sakoya Gaustad 3, Kenzie Couture 1, Tyrah Hammond 7, Skyler Frame 8, Allie Delaney 2

TER- Casadi Wunderlich 3, Danielle Adler 1, Tyra Michel 1, Misty Mendoza 4, Shay Andrew 2.

Charlo 27 Noxon 21

Charlo had a tougher contest on Saturday night when they played Noxon. In a very slow moving game, Charlo scored only two points in the first quarter, those coming from Skyler Frame free throws. The second quarter saw the most scoring action, still coming from a lot of free throws. Charlo put up 13 in the second, taking a 15-9 lead into halftime. In the next two quarters, neither team was able to outscore the other, and that six point lead held for a Viking win, mostly thanks to Cheyenne Nagy making four out of five free throws down the stretch.

Charlo takes on St. Regis Friday night and travels to Plains on Saturday.

Charlo- 2 13 5 7 - 27

Noxon- 4 5 5 7 - 21

CHARLO - Cheyenne Nagy 12, Mikaylan Roylance 2, Sakoya Gaustad 5, Tyrah Hammond 1, Skyler Frame 7

NOXON - Torti 5, Jensen 7, Brown 5, Weltz 2, Merkle 2

Arlee 38 Plains 41

Everyone knew the Arlee versus Plains game was going to be a good one, and it did not disappoint. In the first quarter, Arlee used a trapping half court defense to try and disrupt the Plains offense. Halfway through, Plains went into a full court press to try and do the same. Both defenses worked, as the score was only 5-3 in favor of Arlee after one. In the second, Arlee made some unforced errors and had the ball stolen due to Plains’ press. Arlee was also struggling to rebound on defense, which lead to a 13-12 Plains lead at half. In the third, Plains went on a 6-1 run early and the Scarlets had to play some catch up. However, their shots weren’t falling from outside. When they went inside to freshman Allysia Vanderberg, she scored six straight points to keep them in the game. Two of the assists went to 6’1” Carly Hergett, who has transitioned to a very tall guard position. At the end of the third, Kimberly Earhart hit a three to put the Trotters up by 10 points. Earhart would prove to be a problem for Arlee. She had a few layups off steals in the fourth, and Arlee struggled to transition between offense and defense. They went to a man defense with four minutes to play, and a Morgan Malatare three with three minutes to play brought the Scarletts within three points. With 34 second left, Arlee was down by three and had the ball with a chance to score, but someone stepped out of bounds with the ball. Morgan Malatare almost had a nice steal with 25 seconds left but was called for a foul, and was out of the game. An airball by Plains at the free throw line kept the clock from running, and Arlee had another shot to tie it with less than 20 seconds to go. A miscommunication on a pass ended that chance, and Plains would go on to win 41-38.

Plains- 3 10 20 8 – 41

Arlee- 5 7 11 15 – 38

PLAINS – Kimberly Earhart 19, Kassidy Kinzie 3, Jade LaDeaux 6, Carley VonHeeder 3, Jessica Thompson 4, Leah Thompson 6.

ARLEE – Carly Hergett 10, Morgan Malatare 8, Alyssia Vanderburg 10, Bryndle Goyins 10.