Lady Pirates drop two in Missoula Tip-Off Tournament

MISSOULA — The Polson Lady Pirates lost their first two games of the season at the Missoula Tip-Off Tournament Friday and Saturday at the Adams Center in Missoula.

In the Lady Pirates’ opening game, they were trailing Dillon 15-0 at the conclusion of the first quarter and it wasn’t for lack of shot opportunities, according to Joe Quinn.

“In the first quarter, we had an 0-for and Fitzgerald had four three pointers,” Quinn said. “There were a couple of other players on Dillon that had two points and a free throw. We had our shot opportunities. We were bouncing between a zone and man defense. We were able to recognize that stuff. We were just impatient and had a lot of unforced turnovers. That really hurt us to start the game.”

In the second quarter, the Lady Pirates were able to generate only four points, but in the final two quarters they outscored the Lady Beavers 12-11 and 15-10.

“I don’t think we just outscored them due to putting in their seconds and stuff,” Quinn said. “We just really settled down and played better. I thought the girls did pretty well in the main defense. We just gave up too many baskets with turnovers and rebounding, and gave them too many second chance shots at the baskets.”

The Lady Pirates defenders had trouble containing Lady Beavers’ sharp-shooting guard Brynley Fitzgerald.

“Dillon was good, Fitzgerald was a great shooter, and they are just really well coached this year,” Quinn said. “Corvallis looked really tough and I liked the look of their team. Frenchtown looked really tough and Columbia Falls is just loaded. This week, Hamilton looked really good and they have a bunch of kids that are really quick on their team. There will be a lot of schools (this season) that will be really good this year I feel.”

Quinn knows his Lady Pirates team has its “work cut out for them” with Columbia Falls, Frenchtown and Whitefish.

“We are going to be battling and playing with some Double-A teams on our schedule,” Quinn said. “We have our work cut out for us for sure.”

Kaelyn Smith led the Pirates with eight points, Lauren Lefthand had seven, Quinn Motichka had seven, Mollie Fisher had six, and Mahala Buffalo finished with three.

In the second game, the Lady Pirates were able to generate a “significant amount of points,” according to Joe Quinn. However, Polson also allowed 75 points in their 75-46 loss Saturday at the Adam’s Center.

“Our offense was better, and I was happy with scoring 17 points in the first quarter and 27 points in the second half,” Quinn said. “Unfortunately, Corvallis was able to score 22 and 18 in those quarters. They shot the ball well and they hurt us more on the rebounding side of it. We put up points in the second and it was pretty good. I was happy with that. I thought we were able to get out in transition and get some buckets. The issues I guess would be turnovers, and that leads to easy buckets for them and second-chance points.”

Quinn said he felt his team needed to reduce its turnovers as they committed 21.

“It’s just inexperience with the offense and the girls get a little panicky,” Quinn said. “They throw the ball away and other girls are watching instead of getting themselves open and helping the passers out. A lot of times it takes two to make the turnover.”

Smith led the Lady Pirates with 16 points, Mollie Fisher had 12, Lauren Lefthand had 10, Quinn Motichka had four, Natasha Gravelle had two, and Olivia Perez finished with two on the night.

The Lady Pirates will travel to Flathead Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Flathead High School and then they will host Hamilton at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Linderman Elementary in Polson.

Quinn said he was “impressed” with Hamilton at the Missoula Tip-Off.

“I was really impressed with how Hamilton played Columbia Falls ,” Quinn said. “They are such good shooters and a good team overall. Hamilton hung right in there with them the entire game. They played extremely hard even though they were way out sized and they weren’t necessarily out-rebounded. I thought they looked really good.”

Quinn said he felt Flathead will be “another challenge.”

“That is a really tough thing with our schedule this year,” Quinn said. “We have back to back games with a pregame practice and it’s just kind of difficult to make a lot of adjustments.”

Corvallis 75, Polson 46

In Missoula at the Auxiliary Gym

Polson 17 10 7 12 – 46

Corvallis 22 18 21 14 – 75

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 6 1-4 16, Mollie Fisher 6 0-0 12, Lauren Lefthand 3 3-4 10, Quinn Motichka 2 0-0 4, Natasha Gravelle 2, Olivia Perez 2.

CORVALLIS – Corinne Sanderson 24, Calla Haldorson 23, Lainie Albright 11, Emme Warnken 8, Penny Jessop 4, Steffani Stoker 3, Genesis Keith 2.

3FG 4-9 (Smith 3, Lefthand). 15REB (Lefthand 4, Perez 3, Gravelle 2, Alex Pierre 2, Fisher, Smith, Motichka, Mikayla Croft). 5STL (Lefthand 2, Smith 2, Fisher). 12AST (Lefthand 4, Smith 4, Fisher, Mikayla Croft, Motichka, Alex Pierre). 4BLK (Lefthand 3, Smith). (Sa10Dec16)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): P1Q16p,P2Q11p

Dillon 47, Polson 31

At Missoula under the lights of the Adams Field House,

Polson 0 4 12 15 – 31

Dillon 15 11 11 10 – 47

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 8, Lauren Lefthand 7, Quinn Motichka 7, Mollie Fisher 6, Mahala Buffalo 3.

DILLON – Paige Rouse 2, Kylie Christiansen 4, Kyndall Peterson 7, Kelsy Trulman 4, Savannah Hildreth 4, Bailey Berriochoa 4, Brynley Fitzgerald 18, Kathleen Tartarka 4

3FG 5-15 (Smith 2, Lefthand, Motichka, Buffalo), 2FG 8-16, FT 0-0. 12REB (Lefthand 4, Fisher 3, Motichka 2, Smith, Mikayla Croft, Olivia Perez). 5STL (Lefthand 2, Motichka 2, Croft). 8AST (Lefthand 4, Motichka 2, Smith, Buffalo). 3BLK (Lefthand, Smith, Fisher). (Fr09Dec16)