Pirates dominate Chiefs in rivalry showdown

The Polson Pirates came out sprinting last Friday night, and the Chiefs just couldn’t keep up in the boys varsity basketball cross-county rivalry game.

After Ronan lost one of their leading scorers, power forward Girma Detwiler, to an ankle injury sustained in warm-ups, Polson easily handed the Chiefs another loss, 63-46.

As playoff seeding approaches, Polson head coach Randy Kelley was pleased to get the “W” even though the teams were slightly unmatched.

“Every conference win for us this time of year is good,” Kelley said following the victory at home. “They were down a little bit … (Detwiler) is their go-to guy.

“But I feel pretty good with where we’re at … We’re just not consistent yet, so we’ve got a ways to go. We just need to become consistent in all phases of the game.”

Although Ronan was missing a key player, that doesn’t shadow the game Polson put together on the court. The Pirates came to play – and it showed.

Polson big man Trevor Lake led his team with 14 points, seven rebounds and an immeasurable presence in the paint.

“I thought Trevor Lake came out and gave us some quick offense and played big,” Kelley said.

Immediately following the first whistle, the Pirates had the Chiefs on their heels. They forced Ronan to turn the ball over several times in the first quarter, leading to fast break points and easy layups. Polson racked up a total of 16 steals and 15 assists in the game.

“I thought our kids played well in the first half,” Kelley said. “We’ve been working on motion offense a little bit. Just to get in it and be a little bit more sharp. I thought we were that in the first half.”

After Ronan’s slow start, it was an uphill battle for the visiting team. The Chiefs were able to put together some unselfish plays in the second quarter and keep the deficit to 16 points going into halftime.

Polson began the second half in a familiar fashion by immediately grabbing another steal for an easy layup and déjà vu hit as the home team proceeded to record another 20-point quarter.

Chief players Zarec Couture and Leonard Burke, who each had 13, 12 points, respectively, hustled to get their team back in the game, but ultimately couldn’t overcome Polson’s aggressive defense.

Ronan’s frustration grew late in the game and it showed by an overwhelming amount of fouls. And that also brought to light a Polson weakness.

The Pirates went 4-13, 30 percent, on foul shots in the fourth quarter and Ronan actually outscored them 17-10 in the final eight minutes of the game.

“That was our talk after the game. We’ve got to get better at the free throw line,” Kelley said. “This time of year there’s definitely some things you still want to work on, but you’re running out of time a little bit.”

With playoffs quickly approaching, Kelley is working on getting his team to play together and the game last Friday allowed for many teaching moments.

“I thought we got selfish a little bit at times with our shot selection which we’ve got to get over,” Kelley said. “We’ll be that much better of a team coming into February if we do those little things.”

Since the Chiefs lost to the Pirates three weeks ago on Jan. 10, they have been on a 1-6 slide, including both Polson losses.

February is a crucial month for playoff seeding, and both teams will be looking to leave everything on the court in the coming weeks.

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

Polson 63, Ronan 46

Polson (5-2, 8-5), Ronan 1-7, 4-10)

Ronan 8 9 12 17 – 46

Polson 20 13 20 10 – 63

RONAN – Zarec Couture 6 0-0 13, Leonard Burke 3 5-8 12, Trey Don’t Mix 4 0-0 8, Elijah Tonasket 2 2-2 6, Payton Cates 2 0-0 4, Franklin Zepeda 2, Jayden Rodda 1. 20-59 8-11

POLSON – *Trevor Lake 5 4-6 14, Anton Lefthand 4 1-2 10, *Bo Kelley 4 0-0 10, Gunner Grisak 4 0-0 8, Colton Graham 2 2-7 6, *Ryker Wenderoth 2 1-2 6, Trey Kelley 1 3-4 5, Sam Fisher 2, Braunson Henriksen 2, Alex Muzquiz 0 0-2 0, Nikolai Figaro 0 0-2 0. 24-56 11-26

3FG – R2 (L.Burke, Z.Couture), P4-17 (B.Kelley 2-3, A.Lefthand 1-2, R.Wenderoth 1-3). REB – R38 (Z.Couture 11, T.DM 9, Cates 5, Tonasket 4, Ruben Couture 4, L.Burke, Zepeda, Sage Coffman, noID2), *P36 (T.Lake 7, Grisak 7, Graham *5, Wenderoth *4, *Lefthand 4, Xavier Fisher 2, Muzquiz 2, S.Fisher 2, *Jarrett Wilson, B.Kelley, *Figaro). AST – R9 (Z.Couture 2, T.DM 2, L.Burke, R.Couture, Zepeda, Cates, Sage Coffman), P16 (J.Wilson *4, R.Wenderoth 3, Graham 3, X.Fisher 2, Muzquiz, B.Kelley, T.Lake, Grisak). STL – R8 (Z.Couture 2, L.Burke 2, T.DM 2, Zepeda, Cates), P16 (B.Kelley 4, R.Wenderoth *3, Grisak *3, X.Fisher 2, Muzquiz, T.Kelley, J.Wilson, A.Lefthand, T.Lake). BLK – R5 (T.DM 2, L.Burke, Z.Couture, R.Couture), P3 (*Graham, Grisak, *Bra.Henriksen). (Fr31Jan20)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where alternate data exists: venue report to media (T.Lake 13p, B.Kelley 7p, R.Wenderoth 9p)