Pirates cage Cats, but get stung by a pair of B's

The Polson Pirates held a three-game homestand at the Joe McDonald Health & Wellness Center (SKC gym) last week, but were only able to partially benefit from home cooking.

Last Tuesday, Jan. 29, the Columbia Falls Wildcats started out quicker than the last time these two teams clashed, forcing the Pirates to pick up the tempo during the second period by building a 10-point advantage at intermission. The Cats cut the deficit in half by the start of the final frame, then closed to within a deuce 41-39. The Pirates countered with a deuce for a four-point edge, then would benefit from a visitor Cat-astrophe when Ryker Wenderoth drew a strategic foul that precipitated back-to-back technicals on a Wildcat player as well as the team bench. Wenderoth would splash all half dozen free throws from the charity strip to build the bulge back to 10. Columbia Falls would never recover.

But the Pirates would be stung by a pair of B’s over the weekend, first by the Bitterrrot Broncs of Hamilton followed by Browning. Polson played Hamilton shoulder-to-shoulder during the even frames, but couldn’t counter the long-distance sharp-shooting from beyond the arc.

Against Browning, the running Indians exploited their up-tempo playing style with multiple cherry pick plays that generated a large measure of the margin of victory.

Polson closes out the final week of the regular schedule by hosting defending State B champion Bigfork on Thursday, then travel to Libby on Saturday.

Browning 66, Polson 35

Polson (5-4, 7-9), Browning (9-0, 15-1)

Browning 17 16 15 18 – 66

Polson 8 9 10 8 – 35

BROWNING – Rylee SpoonHunter *17, Tyree Whitcomb 10, Justin Burd 10, *Blayne Deroche 6, John Deroche *4, CJ Smith 5, John MadPlume 4, Joe Bullshoe 4, Latrell BullChild 4, Derek Sharp 2.

POLSON – Micah Askan 9, Ryker Wenderoth 8, Trevor Schultz 5, Trevor Lake 4, Robin Erickson 3, Colton Graham 3, Trey Kelley 2, Seth Lake 1.

3FGs – B3-18 (Spoonhunter 3-5, )

Polson stat specs derived from informal JH tally. Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) – media coverage: Spoonhunter 17p, B.Deroche 0p, J.Deroche 6p (= B62p); Browning MtHSAthSS postings: Spoonhunter 15p, B.Deroche 8p, J.Deroche 4p.

Hamilton 65, Polson 47

NWA Polson (7-8), SWA Hamilton (14-2)

Hamilton 18 17 14 16 – 65

Polson 8 17 6 16 – 47

HAMILTON – Tanner Goligoski 21, Hunter Omlid 17, Trey Searle 16, Carson Rostad 4, Tyler Burrows 3, Tyler Barnes 2, Camron Rothie 2.

POLSON – Micah Askan 10, Robin Erickson 8, Colton Graham 6, Bo Kelley 2 1-1 5, Trevor Schultz 5, Trevor Lake 4, Ryker Wenderoth 1 1-2 3, Seth Lake 1 1-2 3, Keyan Dalbey 0 2-2 2, Parker Toth 1.

3FGs – H (Gogo 5, Searle 3), P (Askan). (Fr01Feb19)

Polson 57, C-Falls 45

Polson (5-3, 7-7), C-Falls (1-6, 3-12)

C-Falls 16 5 13 11 – 45

Polson 12 19 8 18 – 57

COLUMBIA FALLS – Sam Hovde 10, William Dyon 9, Drew Morgan 8, Logan Betchel 7, Dillon Wanner 5, Brad Nieves 4, Dillon Shipp 2.

POLSON – Ryker Wenderoth 2 8-10 12(4r,2a,3s), Micah Askan 4 2-4 10(4r,1a,1s), Robin Erickson 3 4-11 10(1r,4a,2s), Trevor Schultz 4 1-2 9(3r,2a), Trevor Lake 2 0-0 4(5r,2b), Parker Toth 2 0-0 491r), Bo Kelley 3(3r,2a,2s), Colton Graham 1 1-2 3(4r,4a,1b), Keyan Dalbey 0 2-2 2(2r), Seth Lake (1r).

3FGs – CF6 (Dyon 3, Wanner, Morgan, Bechtel), P1 (Kelley). (Tu29Jan19)

Stat specs derived from informal JH tally. Some details may vary from official summary.