Polson boys win cross county clash with Ronan

Ronan 43 Polson 80

At Ronan after an early drought dug them a double digit deficit, the host Chiefs played the visiting Pirates even during the second quarter. But thereafter, the Polson defense clamped down while the offense geared up to put the game out of reach for the Chiefs entering the final frame. 

Polson- 25 18 24 13 – 80

Ronan- 11 17 8 7 – 43

POLSON – Payton Lefthand 6 2-2 17, Matthew Rensvold 6 3-3 15, Tanner Wilson 5 0-0 13, Jeremiah NorthPiegan 5 0-0 10, Julian Jones 4 1-1 10, J’von Niemeyer 2 2-6 6, Shade Main 2 1-4 5, Wyatt Ducharme 2 0-0 4.

RONAN – Aaron Misa 5 1-2 13, Kasey Mock 3 4-4 11, Kobe Morigeau 2 0-0 6, Zeke Misa 2 1-2 5, Jackson Duffey 3, Anthony Camel 2, Nathan Dennis 1, Ty James 1, Elijah Cahoon 1.

3FGs – P 7-14 (Wilson 3, Lefthand 3, Jones), R6-18 (A.Misa 2, Morigeau 2, Mock, Duffey).

REBOUNDS – P32 (Rensvold 8, NorthPiegan 6, Jones 4, Ducharme 4, Hudson Smith 3, Lefthand 2, Main 2, Wilson, Niemeyer, Haden Smith), R18 (A.Misa 6, Camel 4, Cahoon 3, Duffey 2, Z.Misa 2, Isaiah ArrowTopKnot). ASSISTS – P22 (Jones 5, Hu.Smith 4, Rensvold 4, Wilson 3, Niemeyer 3, Lefthand 2, Main), R8 (A.Misa 4, James 2, Mock, Morigeau). STEALS – P15 (Lefthand 4, Rensvold 3, Niemeyer 2, NorthPiegan 2, Wilson, Hu.Smith, Ducharme, Jones), R2 (A.Misa, Camel). BLOCKS R1 (A.Misa).

Ronan 44 Deer Lodge 49

Last Thursday, Ronan traveled to Deer Lodge for a conference match up. Deer Lodge jumped out to a three point lead after one quarter due to six turnovers by the Chiefs. Ronan worked hard throughout the second quarter, pulling within one at halftime. In the third, Ronan gained momentum toward the end, and thanks to a Jackson Duffey three, the game was tied up going into the fourth. Deer Lodge managed to stay ahead throughout the fourth quarter, going up by four a few times before Aaron Misa hit a shot to make the score 45-47 with 35 seconds left. Deer Lodge made two free throws with 11 second left to win the game by four points.

Aaron Misa led the team with 12 followed by Kasey Mock with 10.

D. Lodge- 11 12 11 15 – 49

Ronan- 8 13 13 11 – 44

DEER LODGE – Brandon Porter 14, Cade Benjamin 10, Colter Scully 9, Koby Owens 7, Brock Doiron 5, Dyllon McDermid 2, Kaehl Lowery 2.

RONAN – Aaron Misa 12, Kasey Mock 4 2-2 10, Elijah Cahoon 4 0-0 8, Jackson Duffey 6, Zeke Misa 5, Anthony Camel 1 0-2 2, Kobe Morigeau 2.

3FGs – DL2-10 (Scully, Doiron), R4-11 (Duffey 2, Z.Misa, A.Misa).

REBOUNDS 24 (Cahoon 8, A.Misa 6, James 3, Duffey 2, Mock 2, Camel 2, Morigeau). ASSISTS 10 (Z.Misa 3, James 2, Camel 2, Duffey, A.Misa, Morigeau). STEALS 3 (Cahoon, James, Duffey).

Ronan 60 Troy 42

Ronan hosted Troy for the boys’ senior night and teacher appreciation night. In the first quarter, great passing by the Chiefs led to a three point lead going into the second. Ronan exploded in the second quarter, putting up 21 points thanks to a few three-pointers from great passing. Ronan held on after that to take a 60-42 win.

Kasey Mock had a great game for Ronan, scoring a game high 21 points. Zeke Misa follwed him with 12 points.

Troy- 11 11 11 9 – 42

Ronan- 14 21 13 12 – 60

TROY – Nathan Chapel 16, Sean Opland 13,Tucker Winn 6, Dylan Savage 5, Noah Caballero 2.

RONAN – Kasey Mock 8 4-8 21, Zekel Misa 5 1-2 12, Aaron Misa 4 0-0 8, Ty James 2 0-1 6, Kobe Morigeau 2 0-0 4, Jackson Duffy 3, Anthony Camel 1 0-1 2, Ethan Blevins 1 0-2 2, Isaiah ArrowTopKnot 2.

3FGs – T6-11 (Chapel 3, Winn 2, Savage), R5-20 (James 2, Mock, Duffey, Z.Misa). REBOUNDS 35 (A.Misa 9, Morigeau 6, Mock 6, Z.Misa 4, Blevins 2, Duffey 2, James 2, Camel 2, ArrowTopKnot, Nate Dennis). ASSISTS 16 (James 4, Z.Misa 4, Mock 3, Duffey 3, Blevins, Morigeau). STEALS 9 (A.Misa 3, Z.Misa 2, Blevins 2, James, Morigeau).

TER 72 St. Regis 48

The Eagles snapped a seven game losing streak Thursday night when they traveled to St. Regis. Last time the two played, it was a tight contest with high scores. This time, Two Eagle came back from a 13 point deficit in the first quarter, tying the game up in the third, then putting up 30 points in that quarter to win the game 72-48. Julian Cut Finger led the Eagles with 26 points, followed by Issaiah Mathias, who returned after sitting out a few weeks. He had 21 points.

Two Eagle- 6 20 30 16 – 72

St. Regis- 19 9 10 10 – 48

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Dante McDougal 14, Walter Riddick 4, Brendan McDonald 2, Julian Cutfinger 26, Corey Cadeux 5, Issiah Mathias 21.

ST. REGIS – Andy Elshaug 2, Ryan Teeter 2, Trevor Lowry 16, Brock Cantrell-Field 13, Eric Eslick 15.

TER loss vs Flathead HS

TER lost an away contest to Flathead Home School on Saturday. No other details were available.

Polson 84 Eureka 11

At Polson, the visiting Lions from Lincoln County had hoped that the acronym letter P that substitutes for the host team would spell out plenty of points made by their pride, but instead sustained a severe shock when it signified a profusion of pilfering, pillaging and pummeling by Pirates. The Eureka offense would have had an easier time buying a vowel on the Wheel of Fortune game show than net baskets during the course of this contest. If these Lions had been actual animals instead of a representative team mascot, Polson might have been vulnerable to reprisal from groups like PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) or found themselves in violation of the Endangered Species Act for their participation in such a slaughter.

The Pirates placed a quartet of players in double figures that included a double-double from Matt Rensvold for a new varsity career high 32 points, 18 of which were scored in the first quarter alone. Polson actually dished out more assists during the course of this contest than they raked in rebounds.

Eureka- 2 6 0 3 – 11

Polson- 34 21 16 13 – 84

EUREKA – Moshe Henderson 4, Jake Cardinale 3, Bryant Little 2, Lucas Blankers 2.

POLSON – Matt Rensvold 32, Jeremiah NorthPiegan 13, J’von Niemeyer 12, Payton Lefthand 11, Julian Jones 6, Tanner Wilson 4, Wyatt Ducharme 2, Shade Main 2, Hudson Smith 2.

3FGs – E1 (Henderson), P2-7 (Lefthand, Niemeyer).

REBOUNDS 28 (Rensvold *8, NorthPiegan *8, Main *5, Niemeyer *4, Hu.Smith, Haden Smith, Kabe Forman-Webster). ASSISTS 30 (Jones 8, Lefthand *6, Rensvold 4, Niemeyer 4, Ducharme 2, Wilson 2, Ha.Smith 2, Hu.Smith, Forman-Webster). STEALS 22 (Niemeyer 6, Jones 5, Lefthand 4, Ducharme 2, Wilson 2, Main 2, Rensvold). BLOCKS *4 (Jones *2, *NorthPiegan, *Lefthand). Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) from alternative sources: tm28R (Rensvold 10r, NorthPiegan 7r, Main 4r, Niemeyer 3r, Lefthand 1r), tm0B.

Polson 79 C. Falls 35

At Polson, the visiting Wildcats briefly held a five point 2-7 edge at the onset of the game and played a very tight contest through the first period. But thereafter, it was the Pirates who assailed the seven Cs and then some, tripling up the visitors the rest of the voyage. This game was a rarity for a clash with the Cats. At no time in recent memory has a contest between these two clubs been so lopsided. The Pirates placed a trio in double figures, ruled the boards by almost a 2:1 margin and almost dished out two dozen assists on their way to securing the NWA conference crown.

Individual Pirates are well represented among the statistical rungs of the TOP TEN hierarchical ladder. Junior post Matt Rensvold looms as the beastliest Buc, holding the conference top tier for deuces, combined shooting percentage, points along with rebounding as well as prominent representation for blocks, steals and assists. All of the categories have at least one Pirate featured in prominence, in most cases multiple representatives. For triple sharp-shooting from beyond the arc, Julian Jones, Payton Lefthand and Tanner Wilson have netted almost four dozen treys to their credit. The trio of Jones, Lefthand and Wilson are also stratified among the conference hierarchy for deuces, combined shooting percentage, points, steals and assists. Jones holds a slight edge for the top slot for assists, while Lefthand holds the top slot for steals with Jones, Rensvold and Wilson trailing him by a handful of pilferage. Other Pirates featured among the stat categories include Wyatt Ducharme (rebounding, steals), J’von Niemeyer (steals, assists), Shade Main (rebounding). Lefthand is the lone Polson representative among the conference TOP TEN for free-throw shooting, an area where the team would benefit from some fine tuning finesse as they start to navigate into the occasionally turbulent waters of postseason play.

Polson (5-0, 12-3) travels to 7B Bigfork on Thursday for a battle between the bays, swing over to Libby this Saturday, then host their final home game on Tuesday, February 16, against visiting Whitefish for Senior Night.

C. Falls 15 5 10 5 – 35

Polson 17 23 19 20 – 79

COLUMBIA FALLS – #Nathan Riley 2 7-8 12, #Tyler Murphy 2 0-0 5, Logan Stephens 5, Dakota Bridwell 4, Austin Green 3, Steven DeCamp 2, Matt Morrison 2, Nathan Tucker 2.

POLSON – Matt Rensvold 8 4-8 20, Payton Lefthand 6 2-2 17, Julian Jones 6 1-2 14, Tanner Wilson 3 0-0 9, Jeremiah NorthPiegan 3 1-2 7, Shade Main 3 0-0 6, Wyatt Ducharme 2, J’von Niemeyer 2, Hudson Smith 2.

3FGs – CF4 (Riley, Murphy, Stephens, Bridwell), P7-18 (Lefthand 3, Wilson 3, Jones).

REBOUNDS 40 (Rensvold 10, Jones 8, NorthPiegan 6, Main 6, Niemeyer 4, Ducharme 3, Lefthand, Wilson, Hu.Smith). ASSISTS 23 (Rensvold 6, Jones 4, Wilson 4, Niemeyer 4, Lefthand 2, Hu.Smith 2, Main). STEALS 14 (NorthPiegan 3, Wilson 3, Lefthand 2, Rensvold 2, Niemeyer 2, Jones, Hu.Smith) BLOCKS 4 (Jones, NorthPiegan, Rensvold, Niemeyer). (#) denotes adjustment to scoring tally reported by media coverage (Riley 10p, Murphy 7p).

Mission 82 Loyola 52

On Thursday, Mission hosted Loyola. The Bulldogs were without their top scorer, Bill Von Holtum, who was out sick. Loyola started the game off fast, then Mission slowly worked their way back into the game in the first half. However, every time the Bulldogs made a run, Loyola answered, and after Tate Weingart picked up his third foul early in the second quarter, things got tougher. Loyola put up 23 points in the third quarter then held on for the win, 82-52.

Isaac Alexander led the Bulldogs with 14 points, followed by Nick Durglo and Emilio Bravo, who each had 10.

Loyola- 23 22 23 14 – 82

St. Ignatius- 12 15 8 17 – 52

LOYOLA – Noah Pohlman 6, Kellen Round 5, David Koppang 6, Strother Cooper 10, Frank Zheng 8, Ryan Murphy 2, Ryan McHugh 11, Parker Davis 20, Lochlin Ermatinger 14.

ST. IGNATIUS – Wacey McClure 1, Nick Durglo 10, Andrew Esslinger 4, Tate Weingart 7, Isaac Alexander 14, Emilio Bravo 10, Tyler Spidel 6.

Mission 56 Stillwater 60

On Friday, Mission traveled to face Stillwater Christian. With Bill Von Holtum back, the Bulldogs went up by seven points after the first quarter. Stillwater made a run in the second to pull ahead by one at halftime. The rest of the game would be a tight contest as the Bulldogs struggled to get back in front. They were down by four at three quarters then couldn’t quite pull out the win, losing 60-54.

Von Holtum led the team with 17 points, followed by Nick Durglo, who had 14.

St. Ignatius- 15 11 14 16 - 56

Stillwater Christian- 8 18 17 17 - 60

St.Ignatius — Nick Durglo 14, Andrew Esslinger 6, Tate Weingart 8, Isaac Alexander 3, Bill von Holtum 17, Emilio Bravo 1, Tyler Spidel 7.

Stillwater Christian — Micah Friesen 3, Clayton Hashley 4, BJ Bach 14, Joe Hooker 10, Isaac Neumann 15, Rylee Metzger 5, Chasen Waltman 2, Bo Mackay 5, Daniel Fetveit 2.

Mission 35 Anaconda 75

In their third game in three days, Mission took on Anaconda, the second ranked team in the district. Anaconda came out fast, putting up 27 points in the first quarter to take a 20 point lead. Mission wouldn’t get much closer than 20 points as the Copperheads coasted to a 75-35 victory. Tate Weingart led the team with 12 points, followed by Nick Durglo, who had 10.

Anaconda- 27 20 22 6 – 75

St. Ignatius- 7 9 13 7 – 35

ANACONDA – Caleb Stetzner 15, Ricco Ungaretti 6, Bobby Swainston 8, Trent Mikalatos 11, Sean Gallagher 11, Kaden Stetzner 8, Braxton Hill 12, Kayne Cobban 3, Kayne Bryant 1.

ST. IGNATIUS – Nick Durglo 10, Andrew Esslinger 3, Tate Weingart 12, Isaac Alexander 4, Billy Von Holtum 3, Emilio Bravo 2, Tyler Spidel 2.

Charlo 53 C. Falls JV 55

Last Tuesday, Charlo hosted the Columbia Falls JV team that included the varsity bench. Charlo jumped out to a eight point lead after the first quarter, then extended that to nine at halftime. In the second half, Columbia Falls made some adjustments and pulled within four at the end of the third. Charlo tried to hold them off in the fourth quarter, but the Cats made a run and won the game 55-53. Leading the Vikings was Tyson Petticrew, who had 18 points. Dugan Runkel added 14.

C. Falls- 10 9 16 20 – 55

Charlo- 18 10 11 14 – 53

COLUMBIA FALLS JV – Quintin Schriver 12, Matthew Morrison 6, Mason Tucker 27, DJ Schrader 8, Parker Greene 2.

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 9, Tyson Petticrew 18, Dugan Runkel 14, Greg Montgomery 6, Jade Smith 6.

Charlo 49 Granite 53

On Saturday, Charlo traveled to Philipsburg. The Vikings, who currently sit in fourth place in the 14C, were hoping to prove their strength against the second ranked team from the 13C. Granite County would take a one point lead after one, then extended that to five point at halftime. However, the Vikings gained momentum in the third quarter to pull within one point going into the fourth. In the end, Philipsburg was able to hold off the Vikings to win the game 53-49. Tyson Petticrew led the team with 20 points, followed by 11 from Michael Delaney.

Charlo- 10 10 16 13 – 49

Philipsburg- 11 14 13 15 – 53

CHARLO – Mike Delaney 11, Tyson Petticrew 20, Kane Shenyer 2, Dugan Runkel 10, Greg Montgomery 2, Landers Smith 4.

PHILIPSBURG – Colton Grange 5, Tristan Linn 6, Connor Munis 10, Ethan Stephenson 3, Jon Keltner 12, Gabe Byrne 8, Alex Knauer 9.

Arlee 73 Darby 37

On Thursday, Arlee traveled to Darby. The Warriors immediately got things going, putting up 34 points in the first quarter. After going up 26 points, the Warriors coasted to an easy victory, winning the game 73-37. Tyler Tanner led the team with 22 points, followed by Pat BigSam and Phil Malatare, who each had 13.

Arlee- 34 16 18 5 – 73

Darby- 8 9 13 7 – 37

ARLEE – Isaac Desjarlais 8, Phillip Malatare 13, Colt Brazill 2, Greg Whitesell 4, Patrick BigSam 13, Rory Bird 1, Brad Brazill 10, Tyler Tanner 22.

DARBY – Dylan Parks 5, Zach McCrossin 15, Zack Kline 5, John Beckers 6, Andy Smith 2, Cory Valenzano 4.

Arlee 89 Noxon 20

On Saturday, the Warriors continued their dominance of the 14C, this time against Noxon. Arlee put up 23 in the first and second quarter to take a 46-12 lead into halftime. After a huge third quarter, the Warriors coasted to a 89-20 win. With two games left in the regular season, Arlee has the conference title locked up. Four players scored in the double digits against Noxon, including Greg Whitesell, who had his best varsity performance with 15 points. Patrick BigSam led all scorers with 18.

Noxon- 7 5 4 4 – 20

Arlee- 23 23 26 17 – 89

NOXON – Riley Fisher 2, Grant Fitchett 12, Quincy Grupenhoff 2, Austin Nessel 2, Alex Currie 2.

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 14, Isaac Desjarlais 13, Dennis Fisher 5, Colton Brazill 2, Tyler Tanner 7, Greg Whitesell 15, Alex Moran 6, Brad Brazill 9, Patrick BigSam 18.