Pirates hoopsters struggle in non-conference action

POLSON — The Polson Pirates’ basketball team has struggled in its first five games of the season at the start of their non-conference schedule that consists of predominantly Class-AA opponents.

Polson, who now stands with a record of 1-4 as of press time, struggled to finish games against recent opponents according to their coach Randy Kelley.

The Pirates basketball team lost to Flathead 65-57 in overtime Thursday at Linderman Gymnasium.

One area Pirates’ Coach Randy Kelley said he is “concerned” about early in the season is his team is struggling to play four quarters of basketball. The Pirates were able to out rebound the Braves 36-26.

“I thought we outplayed them in the first half,” Kelley said. “We were up by three points going into the half and we out rebounded them. In the second half, there was a possession and defensively, we just didn’t hold them. However, in the first half we played pretty well.”

Kelley said he felt his Pirates didn’t take care of some of the smaller details that led to the overtime loss.

“We just didn’t convert our shots within the key, and we didn’t shoot very well and take care of some of the small things,” Kelley said.

Against Flathead, Kelley said his team struggled in the third quarter.

“We kind of became complacent in the second half and that third period our transition defense wasn’t very good,” Kelley said. “We thought it led (Flathead) to some easy buckets and we just weren’t very patient on offense in the third period.”

In the overtime period, the Pirates had trouble containing Sam Elliot.

“They came to Sam Elliot, who hit a 3-pointer in regulation, and he hit two pretty quick 3s on us,” Kelley said. “We got a little behind there and we started rushing our shots on offense. We got into a hack fest on our part and Flathead made 7 of 9 free throws (in overtime).”

Tanner Wilson led the Pirates with 16 points, Jeremiah North Piegan had 16, and Matthew Rensvold scored nine in the loss.

Glacier 58, Polson 53

The Polson Pirates had trouble completing four periods of solid play in their 58-53 loss to Glacier.

Despite out rebounding Glacier, the Pirates struggled to finish according to Kelley.

“We just didn’t execute, we gave up too many transition points, and we are just not quite in shape,” Kelley said. “We need to finish and get to the free throw line, and be more aggressive with the basketball in our hands.”

Jaydon Bautista led Polson with 18 points, Wilson had 11, J’von Johnson had 10, and Rensvold scored 10.

Hamilton 58, Polson 57

The Polson Pirates basketball team struggled to finish in their 58-57 loss to Hamilton Saturday afternoon at Hamilton High’s Gymnasium.

“We have to finish games,” Kelley said. “Winning cures a lot and right now we are 1-4. I am pretty sure most of our players aren’t really happy right now with where we are at. Whether it is a Double-A team or a Class-C team, right now we are just searching for wins.”

Kelley said he hopes his team, who will not play another game until January 5 when they host Stevensville, will “regroup.”

“We need to take a look at where we are at,” Kelley said. “It will be nice to sit down and take some learning moments from watching film.”

Hamilton 58, Polson 57

At Hamilton, Hunter Omlid’s buzzer-beating trey leap-frogged Hamilton over Polson 58-57.

Polson (1-4) will have already played their rez roundball rivalry wrangle with Ronan at press time.

Hamilton 58, Polson 57

Polson 13 6 23 15 – 57

Hamilton 16 14 15 13 – 58

POLSON – J’von Johnson 3 1-2 8, Jaydon Bautista 3 0-0 8, Tanner Wilson 2 1-3 5, Jeremiah North Piegan 5 2-2 13, Shade Main 4 0-0 8, Matt Rensvold 5 5-7 15.

HAMILTON – Ky Burch 8, Tyler Chouinard 3, Tanner Gologoski 8, Carter Kearns 6, Hunter Omlid 23, Cam Rothie 4, Jaylen Taggart 6.

3FG 4-14 (Bautista 2, Johnson, NorthPiegan). 25REB (Rensvold 10, Main 7, NorthPiegan 4, Wilson 3, Bautista). 5STL (Rensvold 2, NorthPiegan, Wilson, Johnson). 12AST (Johnson 4, Wilson 4, Rensvold 2, NorthPiegan, Connor Lanier). (Sa17Dec16)

Flathead 65, Polson 57

Flathead 14 10 11 15 15 – 65

Polson 12 15 9 14 7 – 57

FLATHEAD – Cooper Barrett 9, Wyatt Potter 8, Bridger Johnson 6, Cole Gunderson 3, Tyler Johnson 18, Sam Elliott 20, Anthony Jones 1.

POLSON – J’von Johnson 3 0-1 7, Tanner Wilson 6 2-2 16, Jeremiah North Piegan 7 1-1 16, Connor Lanier 1 1-2 4, Shade Main 2 1-2 5, Matt Rensvold 4 0-0 9.

3FG – Flathead 7 (Elliott 3, T.Johnson 2, Barrett 2, Potter), Polson 6-23 (Wilson 2, Johnson, NorthPiegan, Lanier, Rensvold). 34 REB (Main 10, NorthPiegan 9, Bautista 7, Rensvold 4, Wilson 2, Johnson, Lanier). 6STL (Johnson 3, Wilson, Lanier, Main). 16AST (Johnson 4, Main 4, Bautista 3, NorthPiegan 2, Rensvold 2, Wilson). *2BLK

Glacier 58, Polson 53

Polson 15 13 17 8 — 53

Glacier 12 10 19 17 — 58

POLSON — Tanner Wilson 3-9 4-6 11, Matt Rensvold 4-11 1-2 10, J’von Johnson 4-8 0-0 10, Connor Lanier 1-2 0-0 2, Jaydon Bautista 6-13 2-2 18, Jeremiah North Piegan 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 19-47 7-10 53.

GLACIER — Jaxen Hashley 7-14 2-2 17, Collin Kazmier 1-3 0-0 2, Tadan Gilman 3-10 0-0 8, Jack Desmul 1-1 0-0 2, Kody Jarvis 5-6 0-2 14, Torin Bowden 2-3 0-0 4, Brec Rademacher 1-5 0-0 2, Caden Harkins 1-6 6-8 9, Pat O’Connell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-49 8-12 58.

3-point goals—Polson 8-20 (Bautisita 4-8, Johnson 2-4, Wilson 1-2, Rensvold 1-3, Lanier 0-1, North Piegan 0-2), Glacier 8-21 (Jarvis 4-5, Gilma 2-6, Hashley 1-2, Harkins 1-3, Kazmier 0-1, Rademacher 0-4). Rebounds—Polson 31 (Rensvold 13), Glacier 24 (O’Connell 10). Assists—Polson 8 (Bautista 5), Glacier 11 (Hashley 4). Blocks—Polson 2 (Johnson, Bautista), Glacier 1 (Bowden). Steals—Polson 6 (Bautista 4), Glacier 13 (Hashley 4). Total fouls—Polson 13, Glacier 10. Fouled out—none.