Maidens bounce back from C-Falls loss, defeat Lady Pirates in rivalry game

A 30-point halftime deficit was too much for the Lady Pirates to overcome as Ronan easily defeated Polson 68-18 last Friday evening.

The game completed a weeklong roadtrip series that took the Maidens to Browning, Libby, Columbia Falls and finally Polson. The Maidens came out of the sequence even at 2-2.

The hardest result of those games was the Tuesday Jan. 24 loss at Columbia Falls when Ronan gave up a 15-point first-half lead to lose by four points, 58-54.

“We were let down. The girls know we let one slip away,” Ronan head coach Steve Woll said. “But there’s still a lot of ball left in the season and we are still jockeying for position for playoffs. You can’t do anything about it, let it go and hopefully we learn from that.”

And that is exactly what they did last Friday. Ronan jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first quarter against Polson and never looked back.

Maiden senior Kieneau DeRoche’s deadly shooting from beyond the arc alongside guard Lexi Weirz’s ability to drive to the hoop put Ronan up early. DeRoche led all scoring in the game with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.

“Kieneau shot it really well, she shot the heck out of the hoop,” Woll said. “But that also comes from her teammates getting her the ball. We just hope each night somebody steps up for us and tonight it was her on the offensive end.”

Ronan’s Weirz put up 10 points with four steals and four assists on the night. Maiden Guard Reagan Clairmont also scored a significant 12 points while nabbing four steals.

“It was nice to come in, play hard and play together,” Woll said. “That’s kind of the staple of our team is teamwork. I’m proud of the girls sticking together.”

The Pirates picked up their intensity after the sluggish first quarter, led by play from senior Alexia Kienitz. Friday was the 6-foot forward’s first varsity game and she was key on the glass rebounding and scoring, with 6 points, as they hung with the Maidens early in the second quarter.

However with just two minutes remaining in the first half, the Maidens forced a couple turnovers and went into halftime on an 8-0 run.

The Lady Pirates tried to fight the pressure from Ronan in the second half, but couldn’t find an answer for the hot shooting Maidens.

Ronan is in the hunt for playoff seeding, and next week will look to continue the fight for a spot in the Class A tournament.

Reporter Whitney England may be reached at 758-4419 or wengland@dailyinterlake.com

Ronan 68, Polson 18

Ronan (5-3, 9-5), Polson (0-7, 0-13)

Ronan 20 19 19 10 – 68

Polson 3 6 7 2 – 18

RONAN – Kieauna DeRoche 5 4-5 19, Regan Clairmont 4 4-6 12, Lexi Wirz 4 1-1 10, Jaylea Lunceford 2 5-7 9, LaReina Cordova 3 0-0 7, Jaleigh Gatch 1 3-5 5, Analeta YellowBird 3, Madison Clairmont 1, Dani Coffman 1, Madeline McCrea 1.

POLSON – Alexia Kienitz 3 0-0 6, Autumn Piper 2 0-2 4, Jazlyn Dalbey 1 0-1 3, Mossy Kauley 2, *Arly Teaff 2, Misty Tenas 1, Grace Simonich 0 0-2 0.

(Fri31Jan20) Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where alternate data exists: media coverage cites Teaff 3p