Maidens prepare to host Divisionals after capturing district title

HAMILTON — Ronan girls basketball coach Ron Hanson knew it wasn’t going to be easy to defeat Florence for a third consecutive time.

The first two times the Maidens played Florence it was close. The Maidens won 52-40 against the Lady Falcons on Jan. 10 and then won again in the season finale 61-60 on Feb. 9 at Florence High School.

However, the Maidens went for the trifecta and achieved their third consecutive victory winning 61-48 in the Western Class 6B Championship basketball game Saturday at Hamilton High School.

According to Hanson, when you face a team three times “it’s complicated.”

“It’s like a chess match between the two of us and we are both very good teams with good personnel,” Hanson said. “We just made the best adjustments and got some lucky breaks. In our game in Florence, I didn’t feel like we played well. They didn’t play very well when they came to our place but both of the teams made pretty good adjustments in the championship game.”

According to Hanson, the Maidens had a lot of balance on their team and got contributions from multiple players. The Maidens also got contributions from the usual suspects with Alicia Camel contributing with a team-leading 20 points and Lee Camel scoring 18. Other contributors in the win included Micalann McCrea and Jaelynn Askan, who both scored eight points and Louetta Conko-Camel scored five in the winning effort.

Hanson said the contributions from everyone were “significant” and the victory was “important.”

“It was important in that we got the victory and got the higher seed in Divisionals,” Hanson said. “We were able to take care of business. We will probably see each other next Saturday night in Ronan.”

The Maidens were able to secure the No. 1 overall seed in the Ronan Divisional and they will play Libby in the first round of the tournament.

For Hanson, having the home-court advantage in the Divisionals in the Maiden’s quest for state is critical.

“We haven’t played super well on our home floor but having our crowd and sleeping in our own beds is definitely an advantage for us,” Hanson said. “Being undefeated (getting the higher) seed in our Divisional is also beneficial.”

The Maidens, who traveled back and forth and made the 315-mile, two hours, seven minute round trip from Polson to Hamilton throughout the tournament, said the traveling “wore on them.”

As Ronan prepares to head into Divisional, Hanson said he is glad that Florence has been a challenge to his undefeated team.

“It’s definitely helped to have Florence put us in some blowouts and big wins,” Hanson said. “Come state time, we are glad to have them push us.”

Ronan boys furious comeback falls short

The Ronan boys basketball team found itself down by halftime 29-13 facing elimination against Deer Lodge in Saturday morning’s consolation bracket game played at Hamilton Middle School.

By the end of the third quarter, Deer Lodge had increased its lead to 43-23.

In the final period, the Chiefs were able to score 38 points to bring themselves all the way back in contention but fell one point short in their 62-61 loss.

The loss eliminated the Chiefs from advancing the the Divisional round that begins Thursday at Ronan High School. The Chiefs got production out of Zeke Misa, who finished with 17, Aaron Misa had 13, and Jackson Duffey finished with nine points, all on three-point shot attempts. Other contributors included Josh Stewart with six and Anthony Camel with five. Perry Panzetanga, Kobe Morigeau and Isaiah ArrowTopKnot finished with two points each.

In the first game, the Chiefs again were competitive, but again fell short with a 57-52 loss to Florence Thursday at Hamilton High School.

The Chiefs were led by Kobe Morigeau who scored 13 point, Anthony Camel had 11, Jackson Duffey finished with nine, Aaron Misa had eight, Zeke Misa had seven, and Josh Stewart finished with four in the loss.