Favorite Warriors team tries not to be fall to complacency entering the Class C District tourney

Arlee High School boys basketball coach Zanen Pitts doesn’t take his team’s success for granted.

Pitts said he doesn’t worry about the expectations that accompany his team’s success as his No. 1 ranked Warriors prepare to enter the Western 14-C District on Feb. 15-17 at Salish Kootenai College’s Joe McDonald Gym.

The Warriors, a team that is currently unbeaten at 18-0 on the regular season, still has to play and win the games in their district in order to stay alive and advance to the Divisional play on Feb. 22 at Hamilton High School.

“The ranking is just a number that I don’t even think about because it’s just another basketball game,” Pitts said. “I have just as many butterflies going into every other season and every other game. I want to win just as bad now as I did last year. This is a really important tournament. We have to focus on executing everything, getting all of our kids tournament experience and building on depth.”

Pitts and his team are focused on cultivating more depth as they look to be one of two teams out of this bracket to advance beyond Divisional play. Pitts wants to get out of the district his team is predicted to win without many injuries or complications as they prepare to move forward to Divisional competition.

“There is no point in playing your main kids because it’s important for them to get rest and stay healthy,” Pitts said. “It’s also important for our team to take hundreds and thousands of shots and get as many quick wins as we can get. We want to get onto the next opponent and be healthy as we come into the tournament.”

Pitts has become infamous for getting his team to tighten up their level of play with his laundry list of things he has for his team to fix in order to succeed at the next level of competition. One of his main goals headed into this particular tournament is getting the most out of every member of his team.

“I don’t care if you contribute ten seconds or ten minutes, I want everything to be on point,” Pitts said. “I want to see our team have better ball movement, a higher percentage of looks and have high-quality, crisp passes that are on point. Those are the things that are critical in moving the ball and getting high-percentage shots. We want Phil and Will to get quality shots and Isaac Fisher on the high post on point in their spots. We want good passing, to cut down on our turnovers and box out every night.”

Another key component to the Warriors’ success is Lane Johnson. Johnson may not get as much ink or stat box glory as some of his more decorated teammates like Will Mesteth or Phillip Malatare, but his role is equally as critical to the team’s success, according to Pitts.

“We (as a team) are not intimidated by height,” Pitts said. “We lost people that could box out like Alex and Tyler last year. They were special but Lane Johnson is coming on hard and has stepped up big. Other players that will be important are Billy Fisher, Lane Schall and Isaac (Fisher), who are a big and strong part of our team. They really focus hard and rebound.”

Pitts and his staff know that “giants can be knocked off” and they preach that to their kids to make sure they don’t get complacent.

“I always tell my kids ‘I don’t care who you are, there is someone out there working harder trying to get you and your team taken down,” Pitts explained. “We are the Arlee Warriors and that is a lot bigger than just a game. This is for the Flathead reservation, this is for past Warriors and for the entire community. e have to stay focused, not look past anyone and take care of each possession.”

Pitts said he felt the culmination of all of his team’s hard work starts now.

“Hopefully, all of their hard work will get rewarded and we will find out starting this week,” Pitts said.

Lady Vikings, Pirates look to square off at SKC

The Arlee Scarlets look to make another run at their second-consecutive state-appearance.

Last year the Scarlets were anchored by Mission Valley All-Star players such as Carly Hergett, Bryndle Goyins and Noelle West.

The Scarlets lost Hergett and Goyins to graduation, but have developed a new nucleus to their team including contributors like Nellie Desjarlais, West and emerging valley star Alyssia Vanderburg,

The Scarlets and the Charlo Lady Vikings could be on a collision course in the District Tournament Feb. 15-17 at Salish Kootenai College. When Charlo and Arlee play each other it’s usually a closely-contested game. The last time the two faced off, the Scarlets won 49-42.

The Lady Vikes, led by legendary coach Bret Thompson, will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seeded team against Hot Springs and the Scarlets will play Two Eagle River in the first round.

In the hypothetical scenerio both of the valley teams, which have higher seeds, will meet each other again in the second round of District play.

Arlee 93, Two Eagle 46

Arlee (12-0, 18-0), Two Eagle (4-8, 7-11)

Two Eagle 7 12 15 12 – 46

Arlee 29 27 23 14 – 93

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Branco Branson 15, Brendan McDonald 10, Stan Alexander 7, Walter Reddick 3, Dom Finley 3, Kesean Burke 3, Dylan Moran 2, Travis Pierre 2, Coree Cadeaux 1.

Arlee 83, Charlo 56

Arlee (11-0, 17-0), Charlo (7-4, 10-7)

Arlee 29 19 19 16 – 86

Charlo 7 12 23 14 – 56

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 10 1-2 21, Will Mesteth 8 0-0 18, Lane Johnson 7 2-4 17, Greg Whitesell 6 2-3 15, Isaac Fisher 3 0-0 6, Darshan Bolen 1 1-1 3, Nate Coulson 3, Billy Fisher 0 0-2 0, David Haynes 0 0-0 0.

CHARLO – Tyson Petticrew 5 6-8 19, Toby Odom 3 3-4 11, Landers Smith 1 6-10 8, Garett Vaughan 2 2-4 7, Brady Fryberger 1 2-5 4, Nate Delaney 3, Sabin Perry 1 1-2 3, Brock Tomlin 1.

3FGs: A5-23 (Mesteth 2-11, Whitesell 1-5, Johnson 1-3, Coulson 1-1), C7-26 (Petticrew 3-14, Odom 2-7, Vaughan 1-2, Delaney 1-3). REBOUNDS – A27r (Mesteth 6, Malatare 6, I.Fisher 6, Johnson 3, Whitesell 2, Bolen 2, Billy Fisher, Cody Tanner), C44r (Smith 13, Fryberger 11, Odom 7, Delaney 4, Petticrew 4, Vaughan 4, Connor Koenig). ASSISTS – A18a (Malatare 9, Mesteth 3, Whitesell 2, Johnson, I.Fisher, Bolen, Schall), C8a (Smith 3, Petticrew 2, Vaughan 2, Odom). STEALS – A23s (Malatare 8, Whitesell 5, Mesteth 4, Bolen 2, Johnson, I.Fisher, Schall, Bolen), C5s (Vaughan 3, Smith, Odom). BLOCKS – A2b (I.Fisher, Malatare), C1b (Delaney). A23defl (Malatare 7, Whitesell 6, Mesteth 5). (Th08Feb18)