Maidens get closer to finding continuity before tournament time

Ronan High School basketball coach Steve Woll isn’t into moral victories but his Maidens caught the attention of the rest of the Class A girls basketball world with a close call in a 55-44 road loss to top-five ranked Browning.

The Maidens, who finished last season in Class B unbeaten, were looking for a declarative statement and found it in the 11-point road loss.

“Browning is ranked in the top 5 in the state and my gosh, I thought we played well in the first quarter and third quarter,” Chiefs’ coach Steve Woll said. “We were able to get some really good looks and layups early in the game and we lost by 11.”

Woll said he felt a couple of factors contributed to the Maidens loss in the closely contested game.

“We were in the game and we committed 20 turnovers,” Woll said.

The big difference in the game was Ronan was outscored in the third quarter.

“We turned the ball over a lot in the third quarter and that was a crucial time of the game,” Woll said.

Woll said he took away some positive aspects of the loss to Browning.

“I thought we were able to take away the transition game away from them for most of the night and we were able to score a lot of points in transition on our end,” Woll said. “I was very happy with our team.” The Maidens’ schedule is filled with second-half conference showdowns against the defending Class A champion Columbia Falls, a team who hasn’t lost a conference game since 2012, and Polson, a cross-county rival that is always a tough outting no matter what side of the rivalry you are on.

“It’s another tough week in the Class A Northwest,” Woll said. “Now it’s the second time around and we are a little bit familiar with the other opponents. We are making adjustments on the fly. I am excited about moving forward and beating Polson. The first time around means nothing because they’ll be hungrier for a win. Then, we turn around the next night and have Columbia Falls.”

Woll said the length and size Columbia Falls possess presents a “significant challenge” to every team in the Northwest.

“They have good guard play (in addition to their length and size) and they have a bit of everything,” Woll said. “When you play them, you just can’t allow transition and post-ball entry. We have to rebound as a team.”

During the Maidens’ first meeting with Columbia Falls, the Lady Wildkats’ length presented a “challenge,” Woll said.

“The last time we played Columbia Falls, they did whatever they wanted against us,” Woll said. “We just have to make sure to make an adjustment because they are ranked No. 1 in the state for a reason. They’ve also knocked off Hamilton and you have to be a pretty good team on defense to have a shot to be in the game with them.”

Woll is acutely aware he and his team don’t have much time to get ready for the postseason. Woll said his fundamental approach towards practice as his team approaches District Tournament on Feb. 15-17 at the Ronan Events Center won’t change.

“I’ll be honest, our practices don’t change,” Woll said. “We break down our strengths and weaknesses day-by-day and week-by-week. We still split practices with fundamentals and strategy. Those are all three phases of what we do and we don’t change anything that way. We hit up all three phases and work to get our situational stuff in. We don’t change a lot at this time of year (practice wise). We just have a system and we go with it. Our girls are comfortable with that and know what to expect. We don’t change up a whole bunch.”

Woll and his Maidens will keep things consistent as they prepare for the final three-week stretch of the regular season schedule.

“The biggest philosophical things with us will be consistency and we will continue to work on building our team chemistry,” Woll said. “We know where we are at with our chemistry but our consistency is where we struggle at most right now. Hopefully, we will get going in the right direction, haveno major setbacks or anything, finish the regular season strong, and get ready for the tournament.”

Browning 55, Ronan 44

Reagan Clairmont led the Maidens with her first varsity career dabble among the domain of double digits. MSUB basketball bound Micalann McCrea surpassed the 1100 point threshold for varsity career scoring.

Ronan 8 15 8 13 - 44

Browning 18 15 15 7 - 55

RONAN – Regan Clairmont 5 0-0 11, Micalann McCrea 3 3-3 9, Jaelynn Askan 4 0-0 8, Shae Whiting 6, Tiana Ulutoa 1 2-8 4, Kianna Finley 2 0-1 4, Madeline McCrea 2.

BROWNING – Ronnel Jordan 12, Olivia Hall 12, Danaiya Polk 6, Taylor Jordan 6, Dulci Skunkcap 6, Tatum RunningCrane 4, Kelsey MadPlume 3, Walker RunningCrane 2, Lacy Goss 2, Tameka Guardipee 2.

3FGs: R3-15 (Whiting 2-2, R.Clairmont 1-4), B5-11 (Polk 2-3, MadPlume 1-2, T.Jordan 1-2, R.Jordan 1-1). R42reb (Mi.McCrea 9, Finley 8, Askan 6, Ma.McCrea 3, R.Clairmont 2, Ulutoa 2, Whiting 2, Kieauna DeRoche 2, Gabby Wirz 2). R12ast (Mi.McCrea 4, Wirz 3, Madison Clairmont 2, R.Clairmont, Askan, Ulutoa). R19stl (R.Clairmont 5, Mi.McCrea 4, Ulutoa 3, Wirz 2, M.Clairmont 2, Askan 2, Finley). R1blk (Mi.McCrea). (Sa20Jan18)

iTs: 35r (Mi.McCrea 7r, Finley 6r, Wirz 4r, Ma.McCrea 4r, Ulutoa 3r, R.Clairmont 1r), 9a (Ulutoa 2a), 14s (Askan 4s, Ulutoa 4s, R.Clairmont 2s, Mi.McCrea 2s, Wirz 1s, M.Clairmont 1s); XO: 12a (Ulutoa 1a). XO=KrossOver, iTs=EyeTouchStats.

Libby 50, Ronan 38

MSUB recruit Micalann McCrea crested the double century (200) point plateau for season scoring.

Ronan (2-4, 4-8), Libby (4-2, 7-4)

Ronan 2 9 13 14 – 38

Libby 15 9 10 16 – 50

RONAN – Micalann McCrea 6 3-4 16, Regan Clairmont 3 1-2 8, Louetta Conko-Camel 2 2-2 8, Jaelynn Askan 1 0-2 2, Madeline McCrea 2, Kianna Finley 2.

LIBBY – Jayden Winslow 18, Sammee Bradeen 11, Shannon Reny 8, Khalyn Hageness 7, Alli Collins 5, Emma Gruber 2.

3FGs: R4-11 (Conko-Camel 2-3, Mi.McCrea 1-2, R.Clairmont 1-2), L5-10 (Winslow 3-5, Bradeen 1-2, Hageness 1-2).

R16reb (Mi.McCrea 5, Tiana Ulutoa 3, Askan 2, Ma.McCrea, Wirz, noID 4). R10ast (Mi.McCrea 2, Askan 2, Ulutoa 2, Conko-Camel, Finley, R.Clairmont, Madison Clairmont). R12stl (Mi.McCrea 3, Ulutoa 3, Conko-Camel 2, Askan, Finley, R.Clairmont, M.Clairmont). R2blk (Mi.McCrea, M.Clairmont). (Th18Jan18) L:18r,13a,7s,17to