Lady Pirates shooting for strong second half
POLSON HIGH School guard Quinn Motichka shots over a Frenchtown defender in the first half of Thursday night’s game at Linderman Elementary School. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
POLSON HIGH School guard Kaelyn Smith shots over a Frenchtown defender Thursday night at Linderman Elementary School. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
The Lady Pirates lost back-to-back contests against Frenchtown and Libby this past week. Polson fell to Frenchtown 59-32 Thursday nightat Linderman and lost 64-40 Saturday night at Libby High School.
In the early portion of the game against the Broncs, it appeared the Lady Pirates were going to contend with their conference foes, who were heavy favorites to win the game.
“When we played Frenchtown, after the first quarter it was 9-8 and they did outscore us 12-4 and 21-13,” Lady Pirates’ Coach Joe Quinn said. “We were playing extremely hard and I was very happy with that. We had only six turnovers and we were doing well (headed into half). Frenchtown came out and just had a big third quarter and we committed a few more turnovers that resulted in baskets. We didn’t take quality shots. They ended up scoring in transition again and that kind of bit us there.”
The Lady Pirates contended in the fourth quarter and the Broncs only outscored them 11-9 but the damage was done.
Despite the loss Quinn said he is “proud” of his team’s performance.
“I was very happy with how our girls played,” Quinn said. “That was the best game effort and we used a ton of energy in that game.”
The Lady Pirates had another big performance from key contributor Kaelyn Smith. Smith led the Lady Pirates with 13 points and several times she kept her team competitive in the game. Smith also grabbed seven rebounds and had two assists in the victory.
“She is just really quick and had three 3-point shots in that game,” Quinn said. “We need to get a few more 2-point shots. We are taking the basketball to the basket. I think that will help us figure out a way we need to get a little further in our offense when she is able to get more looks at 2-point shots.”
Lauren Lefthand also contributed with five assists and three steals.
Quinn said he felt the problem isn’t in his team’s half court defense, it is struggling to play defense in transition.
“We’ve been running our 1-3-1, it was giving them problems and that is kind of how its been this season,” Quinn said. “When we are set (on defense), we play fine. We shoot the basketball too quickly, turn the ball over and that transition is what is getting us. We’ve got to work on some other defenses and switch things up so our 1-3-1 is not the same time after time.”
Quinn said he felt his team started off strong in the Lady Pirates 64-40 loss Saturday night at Libby High School and then they struggled in the second half.
“We started off OK but we just didn’t seem to have our legs under us,” Quinn said. “We didn’t move our feet enough and we got into foul trouble against Libby. We were fighting for that whole entire game. Libby made 14 free throws down the stretch and we just didn’t move our feet enough on defense. We were reaching for the ball but what really hurt us was the free throws and a few turnovers.”
The Lady Pirates will travel to Whitefish Saturday to play another critical conference game.
“Whitefish will be scrappy and similar to Stevensville,” Quinn said. “They took a big hit when they lost Dani Douglas, who was their leading scorer last year and now plays for C-Falls. We have to hit the boards, not turn the ball over and run good sets. This game will be pretty intense. We just have to buckle down, sharpen up in practice and try to finish the season off strong headed into the tournament.”
LADY PIRATE STAT PACK
Libby 64, Polson 40
At Libby, the visiting Lady Pirates put up enough points on the scoreboard that would have sufficed to overcome their hosts last season, but improved Lady Logger point productivity tilted the outcome in their favor.
Polson (1-9) seeks to secure a couple more wins over the course of their next slate of games.
Polson 11 8 8 13 – 40
Libby 16 18 8 22 – 64
POLSON – Lauren Lefthand 3 4-6 11, Mollie Fisher 5 1-1 11, Kaelyn Smith 2 2-6 6, Olivia Perez 0 4-4 4, Mahala Buffalo 3, Alex Pierre 2, Mikayla Croft 2, Quinn Motichka 1.
LIBBY – Shannon Reny 24, Jayden Winslow 14, Abby Ennenga 9, Brooklyn Rainer 7, Madisen Monigold 3, Alli Collins 2, Sammee Bradeen 2, Khalyn Hageness 2, Emma Gruber 1.
3FGs P2-19 (Lefthand, Buffalo). 16REB (Perez 6, Motichka 4, Lefthand 2, Fisher 2, Smith, Tasha Gravelle). 10ASST (Lefthand 4, Motichka 2, Croft 2, Fisher). 12STL (Lefthand 3, Smith 3, Motichka 2, Buffalo, Fisher, Gravelle, Perez). 1BLK (Smith). (Sa14Jan17)
Frenchtown 59, Polson 32
At Polson on Friday the 13th, the host Lady Pirates played the ponies well at both bookends of the contest, but the visiting Lady Broncs exerted mastery of the middle while conjuring up more lucky 13 number combinations to take control of the outcome. Despite the stroke of bad luck, senior point guard Lauren Lefthand turned some good fortune to go along with her dose of double digits when she crested the century plateau for varsity career pilferage (steals).
Polson (0-2, 1-8) will seek to secure their first conference win when they travel to face Whitefish Saturday, January 21.
Frenchtown 9 12 27 11 – 59
Polson 8 5 10 9 – 32
FRENCHTOWN – Liv Williams 13, Shannon Worster 13, Kylie Willett 8, Emilie Hinrichs 7, Allison Hochhalter 6, Lexi Statelen 5, Carley Thompson 4, Meg Delaney 2, Calliana Bagnell 1.
POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 4 2-2 13, Lauren Lefthand 3 3-4 *10, Mollie Fisher 2 0-0 *4, Mikayla Croft 3, Quinn Motichka 2.
3FGs – F2 (Statelen, Worster), P5-17 (Smith 3, Lefthand, Croft). 15REB (Smith 7, Olivia Perez 4, Lefthand 2, Motichka, Mahala Buffalo). *10ASST (Lefthand 5, Motichka *2, Smith, Croft, *Fisher). 9STL (Lefthand 3, Motichka 2, Smith 2, Fisher, Croft). 2BLK (Lefthand, Smith). (Fr13Jan17)
Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): Lefthand 8p, Fisher 6p / P8a: Motichka 1a, Fisher 0a.