Young Pirates squad split games with Whitefish, Hamilton
POLSON GUARD Asa Askan blocks a layup attempt by Hamilton's Tyler Chouinard. Connor Lanier and Weston Danley also in picture. (Bob Gunderson/Special to the Lake County Leader)
Robin Erickson gets two of his seven points in the conference game against Hamilton Saturday night at Linderman Gym. (photo by Bob Gunderson/Special to the Lake County Leader)
The Polson Pirates boys basketball team received mixed results in this week’s games against Whitefish and Hamilton.
A young and revamped Pirates team showcased their potential in their 57-26 home-opening conference victory over Whitefish Friday night at Linderman Elementary School gym.
Pirates coach Randy Kelley said the victory, in which his team scored several transition baskets, was something for his young and inexperienced team to build on as they further progress into the season.
“We just keep building on our momentum,” Kelley said. “We played pretty well defensively Friday night and were able to get multiple kids involved. I thought our defense led to a lot (offensive points). We played between our 1-3-1 defense and we switched up to our 2-3. We continue to work to get better. Obviously, when you come across shooters like we did against Hamilton, we struggled defensively compared to Friday night.”
The second night of the Pirates’ double-header of home games produced different results. Polson lost to Hamilton 77-47 Saturday night at Linderman Elementary School gymnasium.
In order to have continued success in the future, Kelley said his young Pirate team will be “battling.”
“We have to just keep battling, not get discouraged, and know that sometimes with a young team we will have nights like what we did on Saturday night,” Kelley said. “We will just have to get a little bit better, play them better on our second go-round in the second half of the season, keep improving and taking those big steps on the defensive side of the ball. Our offense will probably be the last thing to improve but we will just keep chipping away at it.”
The Pirates will play two games prior to entering the break. They will host Frenchtown today and play Browning High School on Friday.
“Frenchtown is similar in style to what we saw against Hamilton,” Kelley said. “Frenchtown has great shooters and Browning has some other great shooters. We have to focus on our defensive transition. We have to get a little better at finding our shooters early because we will be playing some tough games for us. As long as we keep improving and head into our conference games in January, these games will really help us.”
The Pirates will work on refining a number of different things during the break. They will get a chance to watch a lot of film and Kelley and his staff will get to work on improving several aspects of basketball during the break.
“It’s actually a good time for us as shooters to get going, get them on the gun and get a lot of shooting in during the break,” Kelley said. “We will change a few things up defensively and get our shooting accuracy dialed in over the Christmas break.”
On Dec. 27-28, members of the Pirates varsity group will get a chance to teach some of the younger kids fundamentals in a camp they will host.
“It’s a good time for teaching both the younger kids and the older kids.” Kelley said of the camp. The Pirates will host Browning Friday.